BV  4831  .B4  W4  1847 
Baxter,  Richard,  1615-1691. 
The  saints'  everlasting  res 


THE 


SAINTS'  EVERLASTING  REST 


OB, 


A    TREATISE 


'iSiOUi. 


BLESSED  STATE  OF  THE  SAINTS, 


THEIR  ENJOYMENT  OF  GOD  IN  GLORY. 

EXTRACTED    FROM    TIJE    WORKS    OF 

MR.  RICHARD'  BAXTER, 
BY  JOHN  WESLEY,  M.  A. 

LATE    FELliOW    OF    LINCOLN    COLLEGE.    OXFORD. 


PUBLISHED  BY  LANE  &  TIPPETT, 

>:  HE  METHODIST  EPISCOPAL  CHURCH,  200  MULBERRY-STREET. 


JOSEPH    LONGKINO,   PRINTER. 
1847. 


X3% 


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CONTENTS. 


Preface  ------      Page     5 

PART  I. 
Chapter  I.     This  rest  defined  -  -  -  -       7 

II.  What  this  rest  presupposeth         -  -  -     11 

III.  What  this  rest  containeth  -  -  -  -     15 

IV.  The  four  great  preparations  to  our  rest  -  -     27 

V.  The  excellences  of  our  rest         -  -  -  -     38 

VI.  The  people  of  God  described      -  -  -  -     Gl 
The  conclusion           -           -           -           -           -           -     71 

PARTIi. 
Chapter  I.  The  inconceivable  misery  of  the  ungodly  in  their 

loss  of  this  rest     -  -  -  -  -  -     72 

II.  The  aggravation  of  the  loss  of  heaven  to  the  ungodly  -     77 

III.  They  shall  lose  all  things  comfortable,  as  well  as 
heaven      -  -  -  -  -  -  -89 

IV.  The  greatness  of  the  torments  of  the  damned  discovered     95 

V.  The  second  use, — reprehending  the  general  neglect  of 

this  rest,  and  exciting  to  diligence  in  seeking  it  -    105 

VI.  An  exhortation  to  seriousness  in  seeking  rest  -  -    116 
VIL  The  third  use, — persuading  all  men  to  try  their  title 

to  this  rest ;  and  directing  them  how  to  try,  that  they 
may  know  ---___    135 

VIII.  Farther  causes  of  doubting  among  Christians  -    145 

IX.  Containing  directions  for  examination,  and  some  marks 

of  trial       -  -  -  -  -  -  -    150 

X.  The  reason  of  the  saints' afflictions  here  -  -    154 

XI.  An  exhortation  to  those  that  have  got  assurance  of  this 
rest,  that  they  would  do  all  they  possibly  can  to  help 
others  to  it  -  -  -  -  -  -    162 

XII.  An  advice  to  some  more  particularly,  to  help  others 

to  this  rest  ------    192 

PART  III. 
Chapter  I.  Reproving  our  expectations  of  rest  on  earth        -   219 

II.  Motives  to  heavenly  mindedness  -  _  _   229 

III.  Containing  some  hinderances  of  heavenly  mindedness   247 

IV.  Some  general  helps  to  heavenly  mindedness    -  -   258 

V.  A  description  of  heavenly  contemplation  -  -   266 

VI.  The  fittest  time  and  place  for  this  contemplation,  and 

the  preparation  of  the  heart  unto  it         -  -  -   273 

VII.  What  affections  must  be  acted,  and  by  what  considera- 
tions and  objects,  and  in  what  order      -  -  -   282 

VIII.  Some  advantages  and  helps  for  raising  the  soul  by 
meditation  ___.-_   295 

IX.  How  to  manage  and  watch  over  the  heart  through  the 
whole  work  -  -  -  -  -  -   308 

X.  An  example  of  this  heavenly  contemplation,  for  the  help 

of  the  unskilful 313 

The  conclusion  -  -----   329 


TO    THE 

INHABITANTS   OF   KIDDERMINSTER. 

My  Dear  Friends, — If  either  I  or  my  labours  have  any  thing 
of  public  use  or  worth,  it  is  wholly  (though  not  only)  yours. 
And  I  am  convinced  by  Providence,  that  it  is  the  will  of  God  it 
should  be  so.  This  I  clearly  discerned  in  my  first  coming  to 
you,  in  my  former  abode  with  you,  and  in  the  time  of  my  forced 
absence  from  you.  When  I  was  separated  by  the  miseries  of 
the  late  unhappy  war,  I  durst  not  fix  in  any  other  congregation, 
but  lived  in  a  military  unpleasing  state,  lest  I  should  forestall 
my  return  to  you.  The  offers  of  greater  worldly  accommodations 
were  no  temptation  to  me  once  to  question  whether  I  should 
leave  you  :  your  free  invitation  of  my  return,  your  obedience  to 
my  doctrine,  the  strong  affection  which  I  have  yet  toward  you 
above  all  people,  and  the  general  hearty  return  of  love  which  I 
find  from  you,  do  all  persuade  me  that  1  was  sent  into  the  world 
especially  for  the  service  of  your  souls  :  and  that  even  when  I ' 
am  dead  I  might  be  yet  a  help  to  your  salvation,  the  Lord  hath 
forced  me,  quite  beside  my  own  resolution,  to  write  this  treatise, 
and  leave  it  in  your  hands.  It  was  far  from  my  thoughts 
ever  to  have  become  thus  public,  and  burthened  the  world  with 
any  writing  of  mine  ;  therefore  have  I  often  resisted  the  request 
of  my  reverend  brethren,  and  some  superiors,  who  might  else 
have  commanded  much  more  at  my  hands.  But  see  how  God 
overruleth  and  crosseth  our  resolutions  ! 

Being  in  my  quarters  far  from  home,  cast  into  extreme  lan- 
guishing, (by  the  sudden  loss  of  about  a  gallon  of  blood,  after 
many  years'  foregoing  weakness,)  and  having  no  acquaintance 
about  me,  nor  any  book  but  my  Bible,  and  living  in  continual 
expectation  of  death,  I  bent  my  thoughts  on  my  everlasting  rest : 
and  because  my  memory,  through  extreme  weakness,  was  im- 
perfect, I  took  my  pen  and  began  to  draw  up  my  own  funeral 
sermon,  or  some  help  for  my  own  meditations  of  heaven,  to 
sweeten  both  the  rest  of  my  life  and  my  death.  In  this  condi- 
tion God  was  pleased  to  continue  me  about  five  months  from 
home  ;  where,  being  able  for  nothing  else,  I  went  on  with  this 
work,  which  lengthened  to  this  which  you  here  see.  It  is  no 
wonder,  therefore,  if  I  be  too  abrupt  in  the  beginning,  seeing  I 
then  intended  but  the  length  of  a  sermon  or  two.  Much  less 
may  you  wonder  if  the  whole  be  very  imperfect,  seeing  it  was 
written,  as  it  were,  with  one  foot  in  the  grave,  by  a  man  that 
was  betwixt  the  living  and  dead,  that  wanted  strength  of  nature 
to  quicken  invention,  or  affection,  and  had  no  book  but  his  Bible, 
while  the  chief  part  was  finished.  But  how  sweet  is  this  pro-* 
vidence  now  to  my  review,  which  so  happily  forced  me  to  thai 


6  DEDICATION    TO    SAINTS'    EVERLASTING   BEST.         ■* 

work  of  meditation,  which  I  had  formerly  found  so  profitable  to 
my  soul !  and  showed  me  more  mercy,  in  depriving  me  of  other 
helps  than  I  was  aware  of!  and  hath  caused  my  thoughts  to 
feed  on  this  heavenly  subject,  which  hath  more  benefited  me 
than  all  the  studies  of  my  life. 

And  now,  dear  friends,  such  as  it  is,  I  here  offer  it  you  ;  and 
upon  the  knees  of  my  soul,  I  offer  up  my  thanks  to  the  merciful 
God,  who  hath  fetched  up  both  me  and  it,  as  from  the  grave, 
for  your  service  :  who  reversed  the  sentence  of  present  death, 
which  by  the  ablest  physicians  was  passed  upon  me  :  who  in- 
terrupted my  public  labours  for  a  time,  that  he  might  trace  me 
to  do  you  a  more  lasting  service,  which  else  I  had  never  been 
like  to  have  attempted!  That  God  do  I  heartily  bless  and 
magnify,  who  hath  rescued  me  from  the  many  dangers  of  four 
years'  war,  and  after  so  many  tedious  nights  and  days,  and  so 
many  doleful  sights  and  tidings,  hath  returned  me,  and  many  of 
yourselves,  and  reprieved  us  now  to  serve  him  in  peace  !  And 
though  men  be  ungrateful,  and  my  body  ruined  beyond  hope  of 
recovery,  yet  he  hath  made  up  all  in  the  comforts  I  have  in  you. 
To  the  God  of  mercy  I  do  here  offer  up  my  most  hearty  thanks, 
who  hath  not  rejected  my  prayers,  but  hath  by  a  wonder  deli- 
vered me  in  the  midst  of  my  duties ;  and  hath  supported  me 
these  fourteen  years  in  a  languishing  state,  wherein  I  have 
scarce  had  a  waking  hour  free  from  pain :  who  hath  above 
twenty  several  times  delivered  me  when  I  was  near  death.  And 
though  he  hath  made  me  spend  my  days  in  groans  and  tears, 
and  in  a  constant  expectation  of  my  change,  yet  he  hath  not 
wholly  disabled  me  for  his  service  ;  and  hereby  hath  more  effec- 
tually subdued  my  pride,  and  made  this  world  contemptible  to 
me,  and  forced  my  dull  heart  to  more  importunate  requests,  and 
occasioned  more  rare  discoveries  of  his  mercy  than  ever  I  could 
have  expected  in  a  prosperous  state. 


THE 

SAINTS'  EVERLASTING  REST. 

*  There  remaineth  therefore  a  rest  to  the  people  of  God,*  Hebrews  iv,  9. 
CHAPTER  I. 

THE  REST  DEFINED. 

It  was  not  only  our  interest  in  God,  and  actual  frui- 
tion of  him,  which  was  lost  in  Adam's  fall ;  but  all  spirit- 
ual knowledge  of  him,  and  true  disposition  toward  such 
felicity.  Man  hath  now  a  heart  too  suitable  to  his  estate  ; 
a  low  state,  and  a  low  spirit.  As  the  poor  man  that  would 
not  believe  that  any  one  man  had  such  a  sum  as  a  hun- 
dred pounds,  it  was  so  far  above  what  he  possessed  ;  so 
man  will  hardly  now  believe,  that  there  is  such  a  happi- 
ness as  once  he  had,  much  less  as  Christ  hath  now 
procured. 

The  apostle  bestows  most  of  this  epistle  in  proving  to 
the  Jews  that  the  end  of  all  ceremonies  and  shadows  is 
to  direct  them  to  Jesus  Christ,  the  substance  ;  and  that 
the  rest  of  Sabbaths,  and  Canaan,  should  teach  them  to 
look  for  a  future  rest.  My  text  is  his  conclusion  after 
divers  arguments  to  that  end  ;  a  conclusion  so  useful  to 
a  believer,  as  containing  the  ground  of  all  his  comforts, 
the  end  of  all  his  duty  and  sufferings,  that  you  may  easily 
be  satisfied  why  I  have  made  it  the  subject  of  my  present 
discourse.  What  more  welcome  to  men  under  afflictions 
than  rest  ?  What  more  welcome  news  to  men  under  pub- 
lic calamities  ?  Hearers,  I  pray  God  your  entertainment 
of  it  be  but  half  answerable  to  the  excellence  of  the  sub-, 
ject ;  and  then  you  will  have  cause  to  bless  God,  while 
you  live,  that  ever  you  heard  it,  as  I  have  that  ever  I 
studied  it. 

Let  us  see,  1.  What  this  rest  is.  2.  What  these  peo- 
ple of  God,  and  why  so  called.  3.  The  truth  of  this  from 
other  Scripture  arguments.  4.  Why  this  rest  must  yet 
remain.  5.  Why  only  to  the  people  of  God.  6.  What 
use  to  make  of  it. 

And  though  the  sense  of  the  text  includes  in  the  word 
rest  all  that  ease  and  safety  which  a  soul,  wearied  with 


8  THE  saints'  everlasting  REST. 

the  burden  of  sin  and  suffering,  and  pursued  by  law, 
wrath,  and  conscience,  hath  with  Christ  in  this  life,  the 
rest  of  grace  ;  yet  because  it  chiefly  intends  the  rest  of 
eternal  glory,  I  shall  confine  my  discourse  to  this. 

The  rest  here  in  question  is,  the  most  happy  state  of 
a  Christian  having  obtained  the  end  of  his  course  ;  or,  it 
is  the  perfect  endless  fruition  of  God  by  the  perfected 
saints,  according  to  the  measure  of  their  capacity,  to 
which  their  souls  arrive  at  death ;  and  both  soul  and  body 
most  fully  after  the  resurrection  and  final  judgment. 

1.  I  call  it  the  estate  of  a  Christian,  to  note  both  the 
active  and  passive  fruition  wherein  a  Christian's  bless- 
edness lies,  and  the  established  continuance  of  both. 
Our  title  will  be  perfect,  and  perfectly  cleared ;  our- 
selves, and  so  our  capacity  perfected ;  our  possession 
and  security  for  its  perpetuity  perfect ;  our  reception 
from  God  perfect ;  and  therefore  our  fruition  of  hira,  and 
consequently  our  happiness,  will  then  be  perfect.  And 
this  is  the  estate  which  we  now  briefly  mention,  and 
shall  afterward  more  fully  describe. 

2.  I  call  it  the  most  happy  estate,  to  diflference  it  not 
only  from  all  seeming  happiness  which  is  to  be  found  in 
the  enjoyment  of  creatures,  but  also  from  all  those  be- 
ginnings, foretastes,  a^d  imperfect  degrees  which  we 
have  in  this  life. 

3.  I  call  it  the  estate  of  a  Christian,  where  I  mean  only 
the  sincere,  regenerate,  sanctified  Christian,  whose  soul 
having  discovered  that  excellence  in  God  through  Christ, 
closeth  with  him,  and  is  cordially  set  upon  him. 

4.  I  add,  that  this  happiness  consists  in  obtaining  the 
end  where  I  mean  the  ultimate  and  principal  end,  not 
any  subordinate  or  less  principal  end.  O  how  much 
doth  our  everlasting  state  depend  on  our  right  judgment 
and  estimation  of  our  end  ! 

But  it  is  a  doubt  with  many,  whether  the  attainment 
of  this  glory  may  be  our  end  ?  Nay,  concluded,  that  it 
is  mercenary  ;  yea,  that  to  make  salvation  the  end  of 
duty,  is  to  be  a  legalist,  and  act  under  a  covenant  of 
works,  whose  tenour  is,  "  Do  this  and  live."  And  many 
that  think  it  may  be  our  end,  yet  think  it  may  not  be  our 
ultimate  end  ;  for  that  should  be  only  the  glory  of  God. 
I  shall  answer  these  briefly. 


THE  saints'  everlasting  REST.  9 

1.  It  is  prox^erly  called  mercenary,  when  we  expect  it 
as  wages  for  work  done  ;  and  so  we  may  not  make  it  our 
end.  Otherwise  it  is  only  such  a  mercenariness  as  Christ 
commandetli.  For  consider  what  this  end  is  ;  it  is  the 
fruition  of  God  in  Christ ;  and  if  seeking  Christ  be  mer- 
cenary, I  desire  to  be  so  mercenary. 

2.  It  is  not  a  note  of  a  legalist  neither.  It  hath  been 
the  ground  of  a  multitude  of  late  mistakes  in  divinity  to 
think  that  "  Do  this  and  live,"  is  only  the  language  of 
the  covenant  of  Avorks.  It  is  true,  in  some  sense  it  is  ; 
but  in  other,  not.  The  law  of  works  only  saith.  Do  this 
(that  is,  perfectly  fulfil  the  whole  law)  and  live  ;  (that 
is,  for  so  doing.)  But  the  law  of  grace  saith,  "  Do  this 
and  live,"  too  :  that  is,  believe  in  Christ,  seek  him,  obey 
him  sincerely,  as  thy  Lord  and  King  :  forsake  all,  suffer 
all  things,  and  overcome,  and  by  so  doing,  or  in  so  doing, 
you  shall  live.  If  you  set  uj)  the  abrogated  duties  of  the 
law  again,  you  are  a  legalist ;  if  you  set  up  the  duties  of 
the  Gospel  in  Christ's  stead,  in  whole  or  in  part,  you  err 
still.  Christ  hath  his  place  and  work  ;  duty  hath  its  place 
and  work  too ;  set  it  but  in  its  own  place,  and  expect  from 
it  but  its  own  part,  and  you  go  right :  yea  more,  (how  un- 
savoury soever  the  phrase  may  seem,)  you  may,  so  far  as 
this  comes  to,  trust  to  your  duty  and  works,  that  is,  for 
their  own  part ;  and  many  miscarry  in  expecting  nothing 
from  them,  (as  to  pray,  and  to  expect  nothing  the  more,) 
that  is,  from  Christ  in  a  Avay  of  duty.  For  if  duty  have 
no  share,  why  may  we  not  trust  Christ  as  well  in  a  way 
of  disobedience  as  duty  ?  In  a  word,  you  must  both  use 
and  trust  duty  in  subordination  to  Christ,  but  neither  use 
them  nor  trust  them  in  co-ordination  with  him.  So  that 
this  derogates  nothing  from  Christ ;  for  he  hath  done, 
and  will  do,  a.ll  his  work  perfectly,  and  enableth  his  peo- 
ple to  do  theirs  ;  yet  he  is  not  properly  said  to  do  it  him- 
self;  he  believes  not,  repents  not,  but  worketh  these  in 
them  ;  that  is,  enableth  and  exciteth  them  to  it.  No  man 
must  look  for  more  from  duty  than  God  hath  laid  upon 
it ;  and  so  much  we  may  and  must. 

3.  If  I  should  quote  all  the  scriptures  that  plainly  prove 
this,  I  should  transcribe  a  great  part  of  the  Bible  :  I  will 
therefore  only  desire  you  to  study  what  tolerable  inter- 
pretation can  be  given  of  the  following  places,  which  will 

1* 


10  THE  saints'  everlasting  REST. 

not  prove  that  life  and  salvation  may  be,  yea,  must  be, 
tthe  end  of  duty.  John  v,  40,  "  Ye  will  not  come  to  me, 
that  ye  might  have  life."  Matt,  xii,  12,  "  The  kingdom 
of  heaven  sufTereth  violence,  and  the  violent  take  it  by 
force."  Matt,  vii,  13  ;  Luke  xiii,  24,  "  Strive  to  enter  in 
at  the  strait  gate."  Phil,  ii,  12,  "  Work  out  your  own 
salvation  with  fear  and  trembling."  Romans  ii,  7,  10, 
"  To  them  who  by  patient  continuance  in  well  doing, 
seek  for  glory,  and  honour,  and  immortality,  eternal  life. 
Glory,  honour,  and  peace,  to  every  man  that  worketh 
good."  1  Cor.  ix,  24,  "  So  run  that  ye  may  obtain."  2 
Tim.  ii,  12,  "  If  we  suffer  with  him,  we  shall  reign  with 
him."  1  Tim.  vi,  12,  "  Fight  the  good  fight  of  faith,  lay 
hold  on  eternal  life."  1  Tim.  vi,  18, 19,  "  That  they  do 
good  works,  laying  up  a  good  foundation  against  the 
time  to  come,  that  they  may  lay  hold  on  eternal  life." 
Revelation  xxii,  14,  "  Blessed  are  they  that  do  his  com- 
mandments, that  they  may  have  right  to  the  tree  of  life, 
and  enter  in  by  the  gates  into  the  city."  Matt,  xxv, 
34-36,  "  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit,"  &c. 
"  For  I  was  a  hungered,  and  ye,"  <fec.  Luke  xi,  28, 
"  Blessed  are  they  that  hear  the  word  of  God,  and  keep 
it."  Yea,  the  escaping  of  hell  is  a  right  end  of  duty  to 
a  believer  :  Heb.  iv,  1,  "  Let  us  fear,  lest  a  promise  being 
left  us  of  entering  into  his  rest,  any  of  you  should  come 
short  of  it."  Luke  xii,  5,  "  Fear  him  that  is  able  to  de- 
stroy both  soul  and  body  in  hell ;  yea,"  (whatsoever 
others  say,)  "  I  say  unto  you,  fear  him."  1  Cor.  ix,  27, 
"I  keep  under  my  body,  and  bring  it  into  subjection  ; 
lest,  when  I  have  preached  to  others,  I  myself  should  be 
a  castaway."  Multitudes  of  scriptures  and  scripture 
arguments  might  be  brought,  but  these  may  suffice  to 
any  that  believe  Scripture. 

4.  For  those  that  think  this  rest  may  be  our  end,  but 
not  our  ultimate  end,  that  must  be  God's  glory  only ;  I 
will  not  gainsay  them.  Only  let  them  consider,  "  What 
God  hath  joined,  man  must  not  separate."  The  glorify- 
ing himself,  and  the  saving  of  his  people,  (as  I  judge,) 
are  not  two  ends  with  God,  but  one  ;  to  glorify  his 
mercy  in  their  salvation  ;  so  I  think  they  should  be  with 
us  together  intended  ;  we  should  aim  at  the  glory  of  God 
not  alone  considered  without  our  salvation,  but  in  our 


THE  saints'  everlasting  REST.  11 

salvation.  Therefore  I  know  no  warrant  for  putting 
such  a  question  to  ourselves,  as  some  do,  Whether  we 
could  be  content  to  be  damned,  so  God  were  glorified  ? 
Christ  hath  put  no  such  questions  to  us,  nor  bid  us  put 
such  to  ourselves.  Christ  had  rather  that  men  would 
inquire  after  their  true  willingness  to  be  saved,  than  their 
willingness  to  be  damned.  Sure  I  am,  Christ  himself  is 
offered  to  faith,  in  terms  for  the  most  part  respecting  the 
welfare  of  the  sinner,  more  than  his  own  abstracted 
glory.  He  would  be  received  as  a  Saviour,  mediator, 
redeemer,  reconciler,  and  intercessor.  And  all  the  pre- 
cepts of  Scripture  being  backed  with  so  many  promises 
and  threatenings,  every  one  intended  of  God  as  a  motive 
to  us,  imply  as  much. 

5.  I  call  a  Christian's  happiness  the  end  of  his  course, 
thereby  meaning,  as  Paul,  2  Tim.  iv,  7,  the  whole  scope 
of  his  life.  For  salvation  may  and  must  be  our  end  ;  and 
not  only  the  end  of  our  faith,  (though  that  principally,) 
but  of  all  our  actions  :  for  as  whatsoever  we  do  must  be 
done  to  the  glory  of  God,  so  must  they  all  be  done  to 
our  salvation. 

6.  Lastly.  I  make  happiness  to  consist  in  this  end 
obtained  ;  for  it  is  not  the  mere  promise  of  it  that  imme- 
diately makes  perfectly  happy,  nor  Christ's  mere  pur- 
chase, nor  our  mere  seeking,  but  the  apprehending  and 
obtaining,  which  sets  the  crown  on  the  saint's  head. 


CHAPTER  II. 

WHAT  THIS  REST  PRESUPPOSETH. 

For  the  clearer  understanding  the  nature  of  this  rest, 
you  must  know, 

I.  There  are  some  things  presupposed  to  it. 

II.  Some  things  contained  in  it. 

I.  All  these  things  are  presupposed  to  this  rest. 

1.  A  person  in  motion,  seeking  rest.  This  is  man  here 
in  the  way :  angels  have  it  already  ;  and  the  devils  are 
past  hope. 

2.  An  end  toward  which  he  moveth  for  rest.  This 
can  be  only  God.     He  that  taketh  any  thing  else  for 


13  THE  saints'   everlasting  REST. 

happiness,  is  out  of  the  way  the  first  step.  The  princi- 
pal damning  sin  is,  to  make  any  thing  besides  God  our 
end  or  rest.  And  the  first  true  saving  act  is,  to  choose 
God  only  for  our  end  and  happiness, 

3.  A  distance  is  presupposed  from  this  end,  else  there 
can  be  no  motion  toward  it.  This  sad  distance  is  the 
case  of  all  mankind  since  the  fall :  it  was  our  God  that 
we  principally  lost,  and  were  shut  out  of  his  gracious  pre- 
sence, and  since  are  said  to  be  without  him  in  the  world  : 
nay,  in  all  men  at  age  here,  is  supposed  not  only  a  dis- 
tance, but  also  a  contrary  motion.  When  Christ  comes 
with  regenerating,  saving  grace,  he  finds  no, man  sitting 
still,  but  all  posting  to  eternal  ruin ;  till  by  conviction, 
he  first  brings  them  to  a  stand,  and  by  conversion,  turns 
first  their  hearts,  and  then  their  lives  to  himself. 

4.  Here  is  presupposed  the  knowledge  of  the  true 
ultimate  end  and  its  excellency  ;  and  a  serious  intending 
it.  For  so  the  motion  of  the  rational  creature  proceed- 
eth.  An  unknown  end  is  no  end  ;  it  is  a  contradiction. 
We  cannot  make  that  our  end  which  we  know  not ;  nor 
that  our  chief  end  which  we  know  not,  or  judge  not,  to 
be  the  chief  good.  Therefore,  where  this  is  not  known 
that  God  is  this  end,  there  is  no  obtaining  rest  in  any 
ordinary  way,  whatsoever  may  be  in  ways  that  by  God 
are  kept  secret. 

5.  Here  is  presupposed,  not  only  a  distance  from  this 
rest,  but  also  the  true  knowledge  of  this  distance.  If  a 
man  have  lost  his  way,  and  know  it  not,  he  seeks  not  to 
return  :  therefore  they  that  never  knew  they  were  with- 
out God,  never  yet  enjoyed  him  :  and  they  that  never 
knew  they  were  actually  in  the  way  to  hell,  did  never 
yet  know  the  way  to  heaven.  Nay,  there  will  not  only 
be  a  knowledge  of  this  distance  and  lost  estate,  but  affec- 
tions answerable.  Can  a  man  find  himself  on  the  brink 
of  hell,  and  not  tremble  ?  Or  find  he  hath  lost  his  God 
and  his  soul,  and  not  cry  out,  /  am  undone  ? 

6.  Here  is  also  presupposed  a  superior  moving  cause, 
else  should  we  all  stand  still,  and  not  move  a  step  for- 
ward toward  our  rest,  no  more  than  the  inferior  wheels 
in  the  watch  would  stir  if  you  take  away  the  spring,  or 
the  first  mover.  This  is  God.  If  God  move  us  not,  we 
cannot  move.     Therefore  it  is  a  most  necessary  part  of 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  13 

our  Christian  wisdom  to  keep  our  subordination  to  God, 
and  dependence  on  him ;  to  be  still  in  the  path  where 
he  walks,  and  in  that  way  where  his  Spirit  doth  most 
usually  move. 

7.  Here  is  presupposed  an  internal  principle  of  life  in 
the  person.  God  moves  not  man  like  a  stone,  but  by 
enduing  him  first  with  life,  not  to  enable  him  to  move 
Avithout  God,  but  thereby  to  qualify  him  to  move  him- 
self, in  subordination  to  God,  the  first  mover. 

8.  Here  is  presupposed  also  suieh  a  motion  as  is 
rightly  ordered  and  directed  tow^ard  the  end.  Not  all 
motion  or  labour  brings  to  rest.  Every  way  leads  not 
to  this  end  ;  but  he  whose  goodness  hath  appointed  the 
end,  hath  in  his  wisdom,  and  by  his  sovereign  authority, 
appointed  the  way  :  Christ  is  the  door,  the  only  way  to 
this  rest.  Some  will  allow  nothing  else  to  be  called 
the  way,  lest  it  derogate  from  Christ.  The  truth  is, 
Christ  is  the  only  way  to  the  Father  ;  yet  faith  is  the 
way  to  Christ ;  and  Gospel  obedience,  or  faith  and  v/orks, 
the  way  for  those  to  walk  in  that  are  in  Christ. 

9.  There  is  supposed  also  a  strong  and  constant 
motion,  which  may  reach  the  end.  The  lazy  world,  that 
think  all  too  much,  will  find  this  to  their  cost  one  day. 
They  that  think  less  ado  might  have  served,  do  but  re- 
proach Christ  for  making  us  so  much  to  do.  They  that 
have  been  most  holy,  watchful,  painful  to  get  to  heaven, 
find,  when  they  come  to  die,  all  too  little.  We  see  daily 
the  best  Christians,  when  dying,  repent  their  negligence : 
I  never  knew  any  then  repent  his  holiness  and  diligence. 
It  would  grieve  a  man's  soul  to  see  a  multitude  of  mis- 
taken sinners  lay  out  their  care  and  pains  for  a  thing  of 
naught,  and  think  to  have  eternal  salvation  with  a  wish. 
If  the  way  to  heaven  be  not  far  harder  than  the  world 
imagines,  Christ  and  his  apostles  knew  not  the  way  ; 
for  they  have  told  us,  that  "  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
suffcreth  violence  ;  that  the  gate  is  strait  and  the  way 
narrow,  and  we  must  strive,  if  we  v/ill  enter  ;  for  many 
shall  seek  to  enter,  and  not  be  able  ;"  (which  implies  the 
faintness  of  their  seeking,  and  that  they  put  not  strength 
to  the  work,)  and  that  "  the  righteous  themselves  are 
scarcely  saved." 


14  THE  saints'  everlasting  REST. 

I  have  seen  this  doctrine  also  thrown  by  with  con- 
tempt by  others,  who  say,  What !  d-o  ye  set  us  a  work- 
ing for  heaven  !  Doth  our  duty  do  any  thing  ?  Hath 
not  Christ  done  all  ?  Is  not  this  to  make  him  a  half 
Saviour,  and  to  preach  the  law  ? 

Answer.  It  is  to  preach  the  law  of  Christ ;  his  sub- 
jects are  not  lawless  :  it  is  to  preach  duty  to  Christ. 
None  a  more  exact  requirer  of  duty,  or  hater  of  sin,  than 
Christ.  Christ  hath  done,  and  will  dg,  all  his  work  ; 
and  therefore  is  a  perfect  Saviour  :  but  yet  leaves  us  a 
work  to  do.  He  hath  paid  all  the  price,  and  left  us  none 
to  pay  ;  yet  he  never  intended  his  purchase  should  put 
us  into  absolute  title  to  glory  in  point  of  law,  much  less 
into  immediate  possession.  He  hath  purchased  the 
crown  to  bestow  only  on  condition  of  believing,  denying 
all  for  him,  suffering  with  him,  persevering  and  over- 
coming. He  hath  purchased  justification  to  bestow 
only  on  condition  of  believing,  yea,  repenting  and  be- 
lieving ;  though  it  is  Christ  that  enableth  also  to  per- 
form the  condition.  It  is  not  a  Saviour  offered,  but 
received  also,  that  must  save.  It  is  not  the  blood  of 
Christ  shed  only,  but  applied  also,  that  must  fully 
deliver ;  nor  is  it  applied  to  the  justification  or  salvation 
of  a  sleepy  soul.  Nor  doth  Christ  carry  us  to  heaven 
in  a  chair  of  security.  Our  righteousness,  which  the 
law  of  works  requireth,  and  by  which  it  is  satisfied,  is 
v/holly  in.j^hrist,  and  not  one  grain  in  ourselves  :  nor 
must  we  dare  to  think  of  patching  up  a  legal  righteous- 
ness of  Christ's  and  our  own  together  ;  that  is,  that  our 
doings  can  be  the  least  part  of  satisfaction  for  our  sins. 
But  yet  ourselves  must  personally  fulfil  the  conditions 
of  the  new  covenant,  and  so  have  the  perfect  evangelical 
righteousness,  or  never  be  saved  by  Christ's  righteous- 
ness. Therefore  say  not  it  is  not  duty,  but  Christ ;  for 
it  is  Christ  in  a  way  of  duty.  As  duty  cannot  do  it 
v/ithout  Christ,  so  Christ  will  not  do  it  without  duty. 

And  as  this  motion  must  be  strong,  so  must  it  be  con- 
stant, or  it  will  fall  short  of  rest.  To  begin  in  the  spirit, 
and  end  in  the  flesh,  will  not  bring  to  the  end  of  the 
saints.  Men  as  holy  as  the  best  of  us,  have  fallen  off. 
Read  but  the  promises,  Revelation  ii,  and  iii,  "  to  him 


THE    SAINTS*    EVERLASTING    REST.  15 

that  overcometh."  Christ's  own  disciples  must  be  com- 
manded to  continue  in  his  love,  and  that  by  keeping  his 
commandments  ;  and  to  abide  in  him,  and  his  word  in 
them :  see  John  xv,  4-7,  9,  10. 


CHAPTER  III. 

WHAT    THIS    REST  CONTAINETH. 

There  is  contained  in  this  rest, 

1.  A  cessation  from  motion  or  action.  Not  from  all 
action,  but  of  that  which  implies  the  absence  of  the  end. 
"When  v/e  have  obtained  the  haven,  we  have  done  sailing : 
when  we  are  at  our  journey's  end,  we  have  done  with 
the  way.  Therefore  prophesying  ceaseth,  tongues  fail, 
and  knowledge  shall  be  done  away  ;  that  is,  so  far  as  it 
was  imperfect.  There  shall  be  no  more  prayer,  because 
no  more  necessity,  but  the  full  enjoyment  of  what  we 
prayed  for.  Neither  shall  we  need  to  fast,  and  weep, 
and  watch  any  more,  being  out  of  the  reach  of  sin  and 
temptations.  Nor  will  there  be  use  for  instructions  and 
exhortations.  Preaching  is  done  ;  the  ministry  of  man 
ceaseth  ;  sacraments  useless  ;  the  labourers  called  in, 
because  the  harvest  is  gathered ;  the  unregenerate  past 
hope,  the  saints  past  fear,  for  ever.  Much  less  shall 
there  be  any  need  of  labouring  for  inferior  ends,  as  here 
we  do,  seeing  they  shall  all  devolve  themselves  into  the 
ocean  of  the  ultimate  end,  and  the  lesser  good  be  swal- 
lowed up  in  the  greatest. 

2.  This  rest  containeth  a  perfect  freedom  from  all  the 
evils  that  accompany  us  through  our  course,  and  which 
necessarily  follow  our  absence  from  the  chief  good  ; 
beside  our  freedom  from  those  eternal  flames  which 
the  neglecters  of  Christ  must  endure.  There  is  no  such 
a  thing  as  grief  and  sorrow  known  there  ;  nor  is  there 
such  a  thing  as  a  pale  face,  a  languid  body,  feeble  joints, 
unable  infancy,  decrepit  age,  peccant  humours,  painful 
sickness,  griping  fears,  consuming  cares,  nor  whatsoever 
deserves  the  name  of  evil.  Indeed  a  gale  of  groans  and 
sighs,  a  stream  of  tears,  accompanied  us  to  the  very 
gates,  and  there  bid  us  farewell  for  ever.     "  We  did 


16  THE   saints'   everlasting   REST. 

weep  and  lament,  when  the  world  did  rejoice  ;  but  ou  - 
sorrow  is  turned  into  joy,  and  our  joy  shall  no  man  take 
from  us." 

3.  This  rest  containeth  the  highest  degree  of  perfec- 
tion, both  of  soul  and  body.  This  qualifies  them  to 
enjoy  the  glory,  and  thoroughly  to  partake  the  sweet- 
ness of  it.  Were  the  glory  never  so  great,  and  them- 
selves not  made  capable  of  it,  it  would  be  little  to  them. 
But  the  more  perfect  the  appetite,  the  sweeter  the  food. 
The  more  musical  the  ear,  the  more  pleasant  the  melody. 
The  more  perfect  the  soul,  the  more  joyous  those  joys, 
and  the  more  glorious  is  that  glory.  Nor  is  it  only 
sinful  imperfection  that  is  removed,  nor  only  that  which 
is  the  fruit  of  sin,  but  that  which  adhered  to  us  in  our 
pure  nature.  There  is  far  more  procured  by  Christ, 
than  was  lost  by  Adam.  It  is  the  misery  of  wicked 
men  here,  that  all  without  them  is  mercy,  but  within 
them  a  heart  full  of  sin  shuts  the  door  against  all,  and 
makes  them  but  the  more  miserable.  When  all  is  well 
within,  then  all  is  well  indeed.  Therefore  will  God,  as 
a  special  part  of  his  saints'  happiness,  perfect  them- 
selves as  well  as  their  condition. 

4.  This  rest  containeth,  as  the  principal  part,  our 
nearest  fruition  of  God.  As  all  good  whatsoever  is 
ijomprised  in  God,  and  all  in  the  creature  are  but  drops 
of  this  ocean,  so  all  the  glory  of  the  blessed  is  comprised 
in  their  enjoyment  of  God  ;  and  if  there  be  any  mediate 
joys  there,  they  are  but  drops  from  this.  If  men  and 
angels  should  study  to  speak  the  blessedness  of  that 
estate,  in  one  word,  what  can  they  say  beyond  this, 
That  it  is  the  nearest  enjoyment  of  God  ?  Say  they 
have  God,  and  you  say  they  have  all  that  is  worth  the 
having.  O  the  full  joys  offered  to  a  believer  in  that  one 
sentence  of  Christ's  !  I  would  not  for  all  the  world  that 
verse  had  been  left  out  of  the  Bible  :  "  Father,  I  will 
that  those  whom  thou  hast  given  me,  be  with  me  where 
I  am,  that  they  may  behold  my  glory,  which  thou  hast 
given  me,"  .John  xvii,  24.  Every  word  is  full  of  life 
and  joy.  If  the  queen  of  Slieba  had  cause  to  say  of 
Solomon's  glory,  "  Happy  are  thy  men,  happy  are  these 
thy  servants  that  stand  continually  before  thee,  and  that 
hear  thy  wisdom  ;"  then  sure  they  that  stand  continually 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  17 

before  God,  and  see  his  glory,  and  the  glory  of  the 
Lamb,  are  somewhat  more  than  happy.  To  them  will 
Christ  "  give  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  life,  which  is  in  the 
midst  of  the  paradise  of  God,"  Rev.  ii,  7. 

5.  This  rest  cpntaineth  a  sweet  and  constant  action 
of  all  the  powers  of  the  soul  and  body  in  this  fruition 
of  God.  But  great  will  the  change  of  our  bodies  and 
senses  be ;  even  so  great  as  now  we  cannot  conceive. 
If  grace  makes  a  Christian  differ  so  much  from  what  he 
was,  that  the  Christian  could  say  to  his  companion.  Ego 
non  sum  ego,  "  I  am  not  the  man  I  was,"  how  much 
more  will  glory  make  us  differ?  We  may  then  say 
much  more,  This  is  not  the  body  I  had,  and  these  are 
not  the  senses  I  had.  Yet  because  we  have  no  other 
name  for  them,  let  us  call  them  senses ;  call  them  eyes 
and  ears,  seeing  and  hearing ;  but  conceive  that  as  much 
as  a  body  spiritual,  above  the  sun  in  glory,  exceedeth 
these  frail,  noisome,  diseased  lumps  of  flesh  that  we  nov,- 
carry  about  us ;  so  far  shall  our  senses  of  seeing  and 
hearing  exceed  these  we  now  possess  :  for  the  change 
of  the  senses  must  be  conceived  proportionable  to  the 
change  of  the  body.  And  doubtless  as  God  advancetli 
our  sense,  and  enlargeth  our  capacity,  so  will  he  advance 
the  happiness  of  those  senses,  and  fill  up  with  himself 
all  that  capacity.  And  certainly  the  body  should  not 
be  raised  up,  if  it  should  not  share  in  the  glory  ;  for  as 
it  hath  shared  in  the  obedience  and  sufferings,  so  shall 
it  also  do  in  the  blessedness  ;  and  as  Christ  bought  the 
whole  man,  so  shall  the  whole  partake  of  the  everlasting 
benefits  of  the  purchase. 

And  if  the  body  shall  be  thus  employed,  O  how  shall 
the  soul  be  taken  up  !  As  its  powers  and  capacities  are 
greatest,  so  its  actions  are  strongest,  and  its  enjoyments 
sweetest.  As  the  bodily  senses  have  their  proper  apti- 
tude and  action,  whereby  they  receive  and  enjoy  their 
object ;  so  doth  the  soul  in  its  own  action  enjoy  its  ov^-n 
object,  by  knowing,  by  thinking,  and  remembering,  by 
loving,  and  by  delightful  joying  ;  by  these  eyes  it  sees, 
and  by  these  arms  it  embraceth.  If  it  might  be  said  of 
the  disciples  with  Christ  on  earth,  much  more  that 
behold  him  in  his  glory,  "  Blessed  are  the  eyes  that  see 
the  things  that  you  see,  and  the  ears  that  hear  the  things 


18  THE   saints'   everlasting  REST. 

that  you  hear :  for  many  princes  and  great  ones  have 
desired  (and  hoped)  to  see  the  things  that  you  see,  and 
have  not  seen  them,"  &c.,  Matt,  xiii,  16,  17. 

Knowledge  of  itself  is  very  desirable.  As  far  as  the 
rational  soul  exceeds  the  sensitive,  so  far  the  delights  of 
a  philosopher,  in  discovering  the  secrets  of  nature,  and 
knowing  the  mystery  of  sciences,  exceeds  the  delights 
of  the  glutton,  the  drunkard,  and  of  all  voluptuous  sen- 
sualists whatsoever  ;  so  excellent  is  all  truth.  What 
then  is  their  delight  who  know  the  God  of  truth? 
What  would  I  not  give,  so  that  all  the  uncertain  princi- 
ples in  logic,  natural  philosophy,  metaphysics,  and 
medicine,  were  but  certain  ?  And  that  my  dull,  obscure 
notions  of  them  were  but  quick  and  clear  ?  O  what  then 
would  I  not  perform  or  part  with,  to  enjoy  a  clear  and 
true  apprehension  of  the  most  true  God  !  How  noble 
a  faculty  of  the  soul  is  the  understanding !  It  can  com- 
pass the  earth  ;  it  can  measure  the  sun,  moon,  stars,  and 
heaven ;  it  can  foreknow  each  eclipse  to  a  minute,  many 
years  before  :  yea,  but  this  is  the  top  of  all  its  excellence, 
it  can  know  God,  who  is  infinite,  who  made  all  these  ; 
a  little  here,  and  much  more  hereafter.  O  the  wisdom 
and  goodness  of  our  blessed  Lord  !  He  hath  created 
the  understanding  with  a  natural  bias  to  truth  and  its 
object ;  and  to  the  prime  truth  as  its  prime  object :  and, 
lest  we  should  turn  aside  to  any  creature,  he  hath  kept 
this  as  his  own  divine  prerogative,  not  communicable  to 
any  creature,  viz.,  to  be  the  prime  truth. 

Didst  thou  never  look  so  long  upon  the  Son  of  God, 
till  thine  eyes  were  dazzled  with  his  astonishing  glory  ? 
and  did  not  the  splendour  of  it  make  all  things  below 
seem  black  and  dark  to  thee  ;  when  thou  lookedst  down 
again,  especially  in  the  days  of  suffering  for  Christ? 
(when  he  usually  appears  most  manifestly  to  his  people.) 
Didst  thou  never  see  "  one  walking  in  the  midst  of  the 
fiery  furnace  with  thee,  like  the  Son  of  God?"  If  thou 
know  him,  value  him  as  thy  life,  and  follow  on  to  know 
him  ;  and  thou  shalt  know  incomparably  more  than  this. 
Or  if  I  do  but  renew  thy  grief,  to  tell  thee  what  thou 
once  didst  feel,  but  now  hast  lost,  I  counsel  thee  to 
*'  remember  whence  thou  art  fallen,  and  repent,  and  do 
the  first  works,  and  be  watchful,  and  strengthen  the 


THE  saints'  everlasting  REST.  19 

things  which  remain ;"  and  I  dare  promise  thee  (because 
God  hath  promised)  thou  shalt  see  and  know  that  which 
here  thine  eye  could  not  see,  nor  thy  understanding 
conceive.  Believe  me,  Christians,  yea,  believe  God, 
you  that  have  known  most  of  God  in  Christ  here,  it  is 
nothing  to  that  you  shall  know  :  it  scarce,  in  comparison 
of  that,  deserves  to  be  called  knowledge.  The  differ- 
ence betwixt  our  knowledge  now,  and  our  knowledge 
then,  will  be  as  great  as  that  between  our  fleshly  bodies 
now,  and  our  spiritual  bodies  then.  For  as  these  bodies, 
so  that  knowledge  must  cease,  that  a  more  perfect  may 
succeed.  Our  silly  childish  thoughts  of  God,  which 
now  is  the  highest  we  can  reach  to,  must  give  place  to 
a  more  manly  knowledge. 

Marvel  not,  therefore,  how  it  can  be  "life  eternal  to 
know  God  and  his  Son  Jesus  Christ :"  to  enjoy  God 
and  his  Christ  is  eternal  life,  and  the  soul's  enjoying  is 
in  knowing.  They  that  savour  only  of  earth,  and  have 
no  way  to  judge  but  by  sense,  and  never  were  acquainted 
with  this  knowledge  of  God,  think  it  a  poor  happiness 
to  know  God.  Let  them  have  health,  and  wealth,  and 
worldly  delights,  and  take  you  the  other.  Alas,  poor 
men !  they  that  have  made  trial  of  both,  do  not  envy 
your  happiness.  O  that  you  would  come  near,  and 
taste  and  try  as  they  have  done,  and  then  judge ;  then 
continue  in  your  former  mind,  if  you  can.  For  our 
parts  we  say  with  that  knowing  apostle,  (though  the 
speech  may  seem  presumptuous,)  1  John  v,  19,  20, 
**  We  know  that  we  are  of  God,  and  the  whole  world 
lieth  in  wickedness :  and  we  know  that  the  Son  of  God 
is  come,  and  hath  given  us  an  understanding,  that  we 
may  know  him  that  is  true ;  and  we  are  in  him  that  is 
true,  in  his  Son  Jesus  Christ :  this  is  the  true  God  and 
eternal  life."  The  Son  of  God  is  come  to  be  our  head 
and  fountain  of  life,  and  hath  given  us  an  understandings 
that  the  soul  may  be  made  capable  to  know  him  (God) 
that  is  true,  the  prime  truth ;  and  we  are  brought  so 
near  to  this  enjoyment,  that  we  are  in  him  that  is  true ; 
we  are  in  him,  by  being  in  his  Son  Jesus  Christ :  this 
is  the  true  God,  and  so  the  fittest  object  for  our  under- 
standing ;  and  this  knowing  of  him,  and  being  in  him, 
in  Christ,  is  eternal  life. 


30  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

Arid  doubtless  the  memory  will  not  be  idle  in  this 
blessed  work ;  if  it  be  but  by  looking  back,  to  help  the 
soul  to  value  its  enjoyment.  Our  knowledge  will  be 
enlarged,  not  diminished ;  therefore  the  knowledge  of 
things  past  shall  not  be  taken  away.  From  that  height 
the  saint  can  look  behind  him  and  before  him  :  and  to 
compare  past  with  present  things  must  needs  raise  in 
the  blessed  soul  an  inconceivable  sense  of  its  condition. 
To  stand  on  that  mount,  whence  we  can  see  the  wilder- 
ness and  Canaan  both  at  once  ;  to  stand  in  heaven  and 
look  back  on  earth,  and  weigh  them  together  in  the 
balance,  how  must  it  transport  the  soul,  and  make  it 
cry  out.  Is  this  the  purchase  that  cost  so  dear  as  the 
blood  of  God  ?  O  blessed  price,  and  thrice  blessed 
love  !  Is  this  the  end  of  believing  ?  Is  this  the  end  of 
the  Spirit's  workings  ?  Have  the  gales  of  grace  blown 
me  into  such  a  harbour  ?  Is  it  hither  that  Christ  hath 
enticed  my  soul  ?  O  blessed  way,  and  thrice  blessed 
end  !  Is  this  the  glory  which  the  Scriptures  spoke  of, 
and  ministers  preached  of  so  much  ?  Now  I  see  the 
Gospel  indeed  is  good  tidings,  even  "  tidings  of  great 
joy  to  all  nations  !"  Are  my  mourning,  my  fasting,  my 
heavy  walking,  groanings,  and  complainings,  come  to 
this  ?  Are  all  my  afflictions  and  fears,  all  Satan's  temp- 
tations, and  the  world's  scorns,  come  to  this  ?  O  vile 
nature,  that  resisted  such  a  blessing  !  Unworthy  soul ! 
is  this  the  place  thou  camest  so  unwilling  to  ?  Was  the 
world  too  good  to  lose  ?  Didst  thou  stick  at  leaving 
all,  denying  all,  and  suffering  any  thing,  for  this  ?  O 
false  heart !  that  had  almost  betrayed  me  to  eternal 
flames,  and  lost  me  this  glory!  O  base  flesh!  that 
would  needs  have  been  pleased,  though  to  the  loss  of 
this  felicity !  Didst  thou  make  me  to  question  the  truth 
'of  this  glory  ?  Didst  thou  draw  me  to  distrust  the  Lord  ? 
My  soul,  art  thou  not  ashamed  that  ever  thou  didst  ques 
tion  that  love  that  hath  brought  thee  hither  ?  That  thou 
wast  jealous  of  the  faithfulness  of  thy  Lord  ?  That  thou 
suspectedst  his  love,  when  thou  shouldst  have  only  sus- 
pected thyself?  That  thou  didst  not  live  continually 
transported  with  thy  Saviour's  love  ?  and  that  ever  thou 
quenchedst  a  motion  of  his  Spirit?  Art  thou  not 
ashamed  of  all  thy  hard  thoughts  of  such  a  God  ?     Of 


EVERLASTING   REST.  21 

all  thy  misinterpreting  those  providences,  and  repining 
at  those  ways  that  have  such  an  end  ?  Now  thou  art 
convinced  that  the  ways  thou  calledst  hard,  and  the  cup 
thou  calledst  bitter,  were  necessary:  that  thy  Lord 
meant  thee  better  than  thou  wouldst  believe  :  and  that 
thy  Redeemer  was  saving  thee,  as  well  when  he  crossed 
thy  desires  as  when  he  granted  them  ;  as  well  when  he 
broke  thy  heart,  as  when  he  bound  it  up.  No  thanks 
to  thee  for  this  crown  ;  but  to  Jehovah  and  the  Lamb 
for  ever. 

Thus  as  the  memory  of  the  wicked  will  eternally 
promote  their  torment  to  look  back  on  the  sin  committed, 
the  grace  refused,  Christ  neglected,  and  time  lost ;  so 
will  the  memory  of  the  saints  for  ever  promote  their  joys. 

But  O  the  full,  the  near,  the  sweet  enjoyment,  is  that 
of  the  affections,  love  and  joy ;  it  is  near,  for  love  is  the 
essence  of  the  soul,  and  love  is  the  essence  of  God. 
*'  God  is  love,  and  he  that  dwelleth  in  love  dwelleth  in 
God,  and  God  in  him."  The  acting  of  this  affection 
wheresoever,  carrieth  much  delight  Avith  it,  especially 
when  the  object  appears  deserving,  and  the  affection  is 
strong.  But  what  will  it  be  when  perfect  affections 
shall  have  the  strongest  perfect  acting  upon  the  most 
perfect  object  ?  Now  the  poor  soul  complains,  O  that 
I  could  love  Christ  more  !  But  I  cannot,  alas,  I  cannot: 
yea,  but  then  thou  canst  not  choose  but  love  him  ;  I  had 
almost  said,  forbear  if  thou  canst.  Now  thou  knowest 
little  of  his  amiableness,  and  therefore  lovest  little : 
then  thine  eye  will  affect  thy  heart,  and  the  continual 
viewing  of  that  perfect  beauty  will  keep  thee  in  con- 
tinual ravishments  of  love.  Now  thy  salvation  is  not 
perfected,  nor  all  the  mercies  purchased,  yet  given  in ; 
but  when  "  the  topstone  is  set  on,  thou  shalt  with  shout- 
ings cry,  Grace,  grace."  Christians,  doth  it  now  stir  up 
your  love,  to  remember  all  the  experiences  of  his  love  ; 
to  look  back  upon  a  life  of  mercies  ?  Doth  not  kindness 
melt  you  ?  and  the  sunshine  of  Divine  goodness  warm 
your  frozen  hearts  ?  What  will  it  do  then  when  you 
shall  live  in  love,  and  have  all  in  Him  who  is  all  ?  O  the 
high  delights  of  love  !  of  this  love  !  the  content  that 
the  heart  findeth  in  it !  the  satisfaction  it  brings  along 
with  it !     Surely  love  is  both  work  and  wages. 


22  THE   saints'   everlasting  REST. 

And  if  this  were  all,  what  a  high  favour,  that  God  will 
give  us  leave  to  love  him  !  That  he  will  vouchsafe  to 
be  embraced  by  such  arms  that  have  embraced  sin  before 
him.  But  this  is  not  all,  he  returneth  love  for  love : 
nay,  a  thousand  times  more  ;  as  perfect  as  we  shall  be, 
we  cannot  reach  his  measure  of  love.  Christian,  thou 
wilt  then  be  brimful  of  love  ;  yet,  love  as  much  as  thou 
canst,  thou  shalt  be  ten  thousand  times  more  beloved. 
Dost  thou  think  thou  canst  overlove  him  ?  What,  love 
more  than  love  itself !  Were  the  arms  of  the  Son  of 
God  open  upon  the  cross,  and  an  open  passage  made  to 
his  heart  by  the  spear  ?  and  will  not  arms  and  heart  be 
open  to  thee  in  glory?  Did  he  begin  to  love  before 
thou  lovedst,  and  will  he  not  continue  now  ?  Did  he 
love  thee,  an  enemy  ?  thee,  a  sinner  ?  thee,  who  even 
loathedst  thyself !  and  own  thee,  when  thou  didst  dis- 
claim thyself?  and  Avill  he  not  now  unmeasurably  love 
thee,  a  son  ?  thee,  a  perfect  saint  ?  thee,  who  returnest 
love  for  love  ?  Thou  wast  wont  injuriously  to  question 
his  love  :  doubt  of  it  now  if  thou  canst.  As  the  pains 
of  hell  will  convince  the  rebellious  sinner  of  God's 
wrath,  who  would  never  before  believe  it :  so  the  joys 
o"*- heaven  will  convince  thee  thoroughly  of  that  love 
wnich  thou  wouldst  so  hardly  be  persuaded  of.  He 
that  in  love  wept  over  the  old  Jerusalem  near  her  ruin, 
with  what  love  will  he  rejoice  over  the  new  Jerusalem 
in  her  glory  ?  Methinks  I  see  him  groaning  and  weep- 
ing over  dead  Lazarus,  till  he  forced  the  Jews  that  stood 
by  to  say,  "  Behold,  how  he  loved  him  !"  Will  he  not 
then  much  more,  by  rejoicing  over  us,  make  all  (even 
the  damned,  if  they  see  it)  say,  "  Behold,  how  he  loveth 
them !" 

Here  is  the  heaven  of  heaven  !  the  fruition  of  God : 
in  these  mutual  embracements  of  love  doth  it  consist. 
To  love  and  be  beloved :  "  These  are  the  everlasting 
arms  that  are  underneath  :  his  left  hand  is  under  their 
heads,  and  with  his  right  hand  doth  he  embrace  them." 

Stop  here,  and  think  awhile  what  a  state  this  is.  Is 
it  a  small  thing  to  be  beloved  of  God  ?  To  be  the  son, 
the  spouse,  the  love,  the  delight,  of  the  King  of  glory  ? 
Believe  this,  and  think  on  it :  thou  shalt  be  eternally 
embraced  in  the  arms  of  that  love  which  was  from  ever- 


THE   saints'   everlasting  REST.  23 

lasting,  and  will  extend  to  everlasting ;  of  that  love, 
which  brought  the  Son  of  God's  love  from  heaven  to 
earth,  from  earth  to  the  cross,  from  the  cross  to  the 
grave,  from  the  grave  to  glory  ;  that  love  which  was 
weary,  hungry,  tempted,  scorned,  scourged,  buffeted, 
spit  upon,  crucified,  pierced  ;  which  did  fast,  pray,  teach, 
heal,  weep,  sweat,  bleed,  die  ;  that  love  will  eternally 
embrace  them.  When  perfect  created  love,  and  most 
perfect  uncreated  love  meet  together,  O  the  blessed 
meeting  !  It  will  not  be  like  Joseph  and  his  brethren, 
who  lay  upon  one  another's  necks  weeping ;  it  will 
break  forth  into  pure  joy,  not  a  mixture  of  joy  and 
sorrow :  it  will  be  loving  and  rejoicing,  not  loving  and 
sorrowing :  yet  will  it  make  Pharaoh's  (Satan's)  court 
to  ring  with  the  news  that  Joseph's  brethren  are  come ; 
that  the  saints  are  arrived  safe  at  the  bosom  of  Christ, 
out  of  the  reach  of  hell  for  ever. 

And  now  are  wc  not  left  in  the  apostle's  admiration  ? 
"  What  shall  we  say  to  these  things  ?"  Infinite  love 
must  needs  be  a  mystery  to  a  finite  capacity.  No  won- 
der if  angels  desire  to  pry  into  the  mystery ;  and  if  it 
be  the  study  of  the  saints  here,  "  to  know  the  height, 
and  breadth,  and  length,  and  depth,  of  this  love,  thou^cli 
it  passeth  knowledge  ;"  this  is  the  saints'  rest  in  tue 
fruition  of  God  by  love. 

Lastly.  The  affection  of  joy  hath  not  the  least  share 
in  this  fruition — the  inconceivable  complacency  which 
the  blessed  feel  in  their  seeing,  knowing,  loving,  and 
being  beloved  of  God.  The  delight  of  the  senses  here 
cannot  be  known  by  expressions  as  they  are  felt ;  how 
much  less  this  joy  1  This  is  "  the  white  stone,  which 
none  knoweth  but  he  that  receiveth :"  and  if  there  be 
any  joy  which  the  stranger  meddleth  not  with,  then 
surely  this,  above  all,  is  it.  All  Christ's  ways  of  mercy 
tend  to,  and  end  in,  the  saints'  joys.  He  wept,  sor- 
rowed, suffered,  that  they  might  rejoice  ;  he  sendeth 
the  Spirit  to  be  their  comforter ;  he  multiplieth  promises, 
he  discovers  their  future  happiness,  that  their  joy  might 
be  full ;  he  aboundeth  to  them  in  mercies  of  all  sorts  ; 
"He  maketh  them  lie  down  in  green  pastures,  and 
leadeth  them  by  the  still  waters  ;"  yea,  "  openeth  to 
them  the  fountain  of  living  waters,  that  their  joy  may 


24  THE.  saints'   EVERLASTING  REST. 

be  full,  that  they  may  thirst  no  more,  and  that  it  may 
spring  up  in  them  to  everlasting  life ;"  he  causeth  them 
to  suffer,  that  he  may  cause  them  to  rejoice  ;  and  chas- 
teneth  them,  that  he  may  give  them  rest ;  and  maketh 
them  (as  he  did  himself)  "  to  drink  of  the  brook  in  the 
way,  that  they  may  lift  up  the  head,"  Psalm  ex,  7.  And 
lest  after  all  this  they  should  neglect  their  own  com- 
forts, he  maketh  it  their  duty,  commanding  them  "  to 
rejoice  in  him  alway."  And  he  never  brings  them  into 
so  low  a  condition  wherein  he  leaves  them  not  more 
cause  of  joy  than  of  sorrow.  And  hath  the  Lord  such 
a  care  for  us  here,  where,  the  Bridegroom  being  from 
us,  we  must  mourn  ?  O  what  will  that  joy  be,  where, 
the  soul  being  perfectly  prepared  for  joy,  and  joy  pre- 
pared by  Christ  for  the  soul,  it  shall  be  our  work,  our 
business,  eternally  to  rejoice  1 

And  it  seems  the  saints'  joy  shall  be  greater  than  the 
damned's  torment :  for  their  torment  is  the  torment  of 
creatures  "  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels  :"  but 
our  joy  is  the  joy  of  our  Lord,  even  our  Lord's  own 
joy  shall  we  enter.  *'  And  the  same  glory  which  the 
Father  giveth  him,  doth  the  Son  give  them,"  John  xvii, 
22.  "  And  to  sit  down  with  him  in  his  throne,  even  as 
he  is  set  down  in  his  Father's  throne,"  Rev.  iii,  2L 
Thou  that  now  spendest  thy  days  in  sorrow,  who  know- 
est  no  garments  but  sackcloth,  no  food  but  the  bread 
and  water  of  afflictions,  what  sayest  thou  to  this  great 
change  ?  from  all  sorrow  to  more  than  all  joy  ?  Thou 
poor  soul,  who  prayest  for  joy,  complainest  for  want  of 
joy,  then  thou  shalt  have  full  joy,  as  much  as  thou  canst 
hold,  and  more  than  ever  thou  thoughtest  on,  or  thy 
heart  desired. 

And  in  the  meantime  walk  carefully,  watch  con- 
stantly, and  then  let  God  measure  out  thy  times  and 
degrees  of  joy.  It  may  be  he  keeps  them  till  thou  hast 
more  need ;  thou  mayest  better  lose  thy  comfort  than 
thy  safety.  As  the  joy  of  the  hypocrite,  so  the  fears  of 
the  upright  are  but  for  a  moment.  "Weeping  may 
endure  for  a  night,  but  joy  cometh  in  the  morning." 
O  blessed  morning  !  Poor  drooping  soul,  how  would  it 
fill  thee  with  joy  now,  if  a  voice  from  heaven  should 
assure  thee  of  thy  part  in  these  joys  !     What  then  will 


THE   SAlN'i'b'   EVERLASTING   REST.  35 

thy  joy  be  when  thy  actual  possession  shall  convince 
thee  of  thy  title  :  when  the  angels  shall  bring  thee  to 
Christ,  and  when  Christ  shall  (as  it  were)  take  thee  by 
the  hand,  and  lead  thee  into  thy  purchased  possession  1 
Wilt  thou  not  be  almost  ready  to  draw  back,  and  to  say, 
"What  I,  Lord,  I,  the  unworthy  neglecter  of  thy  grace  ! 
I,  the  unworthy  disesteemer  of  thy  blood,  and  slighter 
of  thy  love  !  must  I  have  this  glory  ?  "  Make  me  a 
hired  servant,  I  am  no  more  worthy  to  be  called  a  son  :" 
but  love  will  have  it  so  ;  therefore  thou  must  enter  into 
his  joy. 

And  it  is  not  thy  joy  only  ;  it  is  a  mutual  joy,  as  well 
as  mutual  love  :  is  there  such  joy  in  heaven  at  thy  con- 
version, and  will  there  be  none  at  thy  glorification? 
Will  not  the  angels  welcome  thee  thither,  and  congratu- 
late thy  safe  arrival  ?  Yea,  it  is  the  joy  of  Jesus  Christ : 
for  now  he  hath  the  end  of  his  labour,  suffering,  dying, 
M'hen  we  have  our  joys  ;  "  when  he  is  glorified  in  his 
saints,  and  admired  in  all  them  that  believe.  We  are 
his  seed,  and  the  fruit  of  his  soul's  travail,  which  when 
he  seeth,  he  will  be  satisfied  :"  he  will  rejoice  over  hi? 
purchased  inheritance,  and  his  people  shall  rejoice  in 
him. 

Yea,  the  Father  himself  puts  on  joy,  too,  in  our  joy: 
as  we  grieve  his  Spirit,  and  weary  him  with  our  iniqui- 
ties ;  so  he  is  rejoiced  in  our  good.  O  how  quickly 
here  doth  he  spy  a  returning  prodigal,  even  afar  off! 
How  doth  he  run  and  meet  him,  fall  on  his  neck,  and 
kiss  him  !  This  is  indeed  a  happy  meeting  :  but  nothing 
to  the  joy  of  that  last  and  great  meeting. 

And  now  look  back  upon  all  this  ;  I  say  to  thee  as 
the  angel  to  John,  "  What  hast  thou  seen?"  Or  if  yet 
thou  perceive  not,  draw  nearer,  come  up  higher.  Come 
and  see  :  dost  thou  fear  thou  hast  been  all  this  while  in 
a  dream  ?  Why,  These  are  the  trite  sayings  of  God. 
Dost  thou  fear  (as  the  disciples)  that  thou  hast  seen  but 
a  ghost  instead  of  Christ?  a  shadow  instead  of  the  rest? 
Come  near  and  feel :  a  shadow  contains  not  those  sub- 
stantial blessings,  nor  rests  upon  such  a  sure  word  of 
promise,  as  you  have  seen  these  do.  Go  thy  way  now, 
and  tell  the  disciples,  and  tell  the  drooping  souls  thou 
meetest  with,  that  thou  hast,  in  this  glass,  seen  heaven  : 
2 


26  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

that  "  the  Lord  indeed  is  risen,  and  hath  here  appeared 
to  thee  ;  and  behold  he  is  gone  before  us  into  rest ;  and 
that  he  is  now  preparing  a  place  for  them,  and  will  come 
again,  and  take  them  to  himself,  that  "  where  he  is, 
there  they  may  be  also." 

But  alas  1  my  fearful  heart  dare  scarce  proceed.  Me- 
thinks  I  hear  the  Almighty's  voice  saying  to  me,  as  to 
Elihu,  Job  xxxviii,  2,  "  Who  is  this  that  darkeneth 
counsel  by  words  without  knowledge  ?" 

But  pardon,  O  Lord,  thy  servant's  sin :  I  have  not 
pried  into  unrevealed  things,  nor  curiously  searched  into 
thy  counsels  ;  but  indeed  I  have  dishonoured  thy  holiness, 
wronged  thine  excellence,  disgraced  thy  saints'  glory, 
by  my  disproportionable  portraying  :  I  will  bewail  from 
my  heart  that  my  apprehensions  are  so  dull,  my  thoughts 
so  mean,  my  affections  so  stupid,  and  my  expressions 
so  low.  But  I  have  only  heard  by  the  hearing  of  the 
ear;  O  let  thy  servant  see  thee,  and  possess  these  joys, 
and  then  I  shall  have  more  suitable  conceivings,  and 
shall  give  thee  fuller  glory.  "  I  have  now  uttered  that 
I  understood  not ;  things  too  wonderful  for  me  which  I 
knew  not.  Yet  I  believed,  and  therefore  spake.  Re- 
member with  whom  thou  hast  to  do :  what  canst  thou 
expect  from  dust,  from  corruption,  but  defilement?  Our 
foul  hands  will  leave,  where  they  touch,  the  marks  of 
their  urcleanness  ;  and  most  on  those  things  that  are 
most  pure.  "  I  know  thou  wilt  be  sanctified  in  them 
that  come  nigh  thee,  and  before  all  the  people  thou  wilt 
be  glorified  :  and  if  thy  jealousy  excluded  from  that  land 
of  rest  thy  servants  Moses  and  Aaron,  because  they 
sanctified  thee  not  in  the  midst  of  Israel,  what  then  may 
I  expect  ?  But  though  the  weakness  be  the  fruit  of  my 
own  corruption,  yet  the  fire  is  from  thine  altar,  and  the 
work  of  thy  commanding.  I  looked  not  into  thine  ark, 
nor  put  forth  my  hand  unto  it  without  thee.  O  there- 
fore wpsh  away  these  stains  also  in  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb. 


27 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  FOUR  GREAT  PREPARATIONS  TO  OUR  REST. 

Having  thus  showed  you  a  small  glimpse  of  that  re- 
semblance of  the  saint's  rest  which  I  had  seen  in  the 
Gospel  glass  ;  it  follows,  that  we  proceed  to  view  a  little 
the  blessed  properties  of  this  rest.  And  why  doth  my 
trembling  heart  draw  back  ?  Surely  the  Lord  is  not 
now  so  inaccessible,  nor  the  ways  so  blocked  up,  as 
when  the  law  and  curse  reigned.  Wherefore,  finding 
the  flaming  sword  removed,  I  shall  look  again  into  the 
paradise  of  our  God. 

And  first,  let  us  consider  the  great  preparations  ;  for 
the  porch  of  this  temple  is  exceeding  glorious.  Let  us 
observe, 

1.  The  most  glorious  coming  of  the  Son  of  God. 

2.  His  raising  our  bodies,  and  uniting  them  again 
with  the  soul. 

3.  His  solemn  proceedings  in  their  judgment,  where 
they  shall  be  justified  before  all  the  world. 

4.  His  enthroning  them  in  glory. 

1.  And  well  may  the  coming  of  Christ  be  reckoned 
with  those  ingredients  that  compound  this  precious  rest; 
for  to  this  end  it  is  intended,  and  to  this  end  it  is  of  ap- 
parent necessity.  F\)r  his  people's  sake  he  sanctified 
himself  to  his  office  :  for  their  sake  he  came  into  the 
world,  sufiered,  died,  rose,  ascended ;  and  for  their  sake 
it  is  that  he  will  return.  To  this  end  will  Christ  come 
acrain  to  receive  his  people  to  himself,  "  that  where  he 
is,  they  may  be  also,"  John  xiv,  3.  He  that  would 
come  to  suffer,  will  surely  come  to  triumph  ;  and  he  that 
would  come  to  purchase,  will  surely  come  to  possess. 

But  why  stayed  he  not  with  his  people  while  he  was 
here  ?  Why  ;  must  not  the  Comforter  be  sent  ?  Was 
not  the  work  on  earth  done  ?  Must  he  not  receive  the 
recompense  of  reward,  and  enter  into  his  glory?  Must 
he  not  take  possession  in  our  behalf?  Must  he  not  go 
to  prepare  a  place  for  us?  Must  he  not  intercede  with 
tlic  Father,  and  plead  his  suflTerings,  and  be  filled  with 
the  Spirit  to  send  it  forth,  and  receive  authority  to  sub- 


28  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

due  his  enemies  ?  Our  abode  here  is  short :  if  he  had 
stayed  on  earth,  what  would  it  have  been  to  enjoy  him 
for  a  few  days,  and  then  die  ?  But  he  hath  more  in 
heaven  to  dwell  among :  even  the  spirits  of  the  just  of 
many  generations,  there  made  perfect.  O  what  a  day 
will  that  be !  when  we,  who  have  been  kept  prisoners 
by  the  grave,  shall  be  fetched  out  by  the  Lord  himself; 
when  Christ  shall  come  from  heaven  to  plead  with  his 
enemies,  and  set  his  captives  free  ?  It  will  not  be  such 
a  coming  as  his  first  was,  in  meanness,  and  poverty,  and 
contempt.  He  will  not  come  to  be  spit  upon,  and  buf- 
feted, and  scorned,  and  crucified  again.  He  will  not 
come,  O  careless  world,  to  be  slighted  by  you  any  more. 
And  yet  that  coming,  which  was  in  infirmity  and  re- 
proach for  our  sakes,  wanted  not  its  glory.  If  the 
angels  of  heaven  must  be  the  messengers  of  that  coming, 
as  being  tidings  of  joy  to  all  people;  and  the  heavenly 
host  must  accompany  his  nativity,  and  must  praise  God 
with  that  solemnity ;  O  with  what  shoutings  will  angels 
and  saints  at  that  day  proclaim,  "  Glory  to  God,  and 
peace  and  good  will  toward  men  !"  If  the  stars  of  hea- 
ven must  lead  men  to  come  to  worship  a  child  in  a  man- 
ger, how  will  the  glory  of  his  next  appearing  constrain 
all  the  world  to  acknowledge  his  sovereignty  !  If,  when 
he  was  in  the  form  of  a  servant,  they  cry  out,  "  What 
manner  of  man  is  this,  that  both  wind  and  sea  obey 
him  !"  what  shall  they  say  when  they  shall  see  him 
coming  in  his  glory,  and  the  heavens  and  earth  obey 
him  ?  "  Then  shall  appear  the  sign  of  the  Son  of  man 
in  heaven,  and  then  shall  all  the  tribes  of  the  earth 
mourn,  and  they  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  coming  in  the 
clouds  of  heaven  with  power  and  great  glory." 

This  coming  of  Christ  is  frequently  mentioned  in  the 
prophets,  as  the  great  support  of  his  people's  spirits  till 
then.  And  whenever  the  apostles  Avould  quicken  to 
duty,  or  encourage  to  patient  waiting,  they  usually  do  it 
by  mentioning  Christ's  coming.  Why  then  do  we  not 
use  more  this  cordial  consideration  whenever  we  want 
support  and  comfort  ?  Shall  the  wicked  with  inconceiv- 
able horror  behold  him,  and  cry  out,  "  Yonder  is  he 
whose  blood  we  neglected,  whose  grace  we  resisted, 
whose  counsels  we  refused,  whose  government  we  cast 


THE  saints'  everlasting  REST.  29 

off?"  And  shall  not  the  saints,  with  inconceivable 
gladness,  cry  out,  "  Yonder  is  he  whose  blood  redeemed 
us,  whose  Spirit  cleansed  us  !  Yonder  comes  he  in  whom 
we  trusted,  and  now  ye  see  he  hath  not  deceived  our 
trust :  he  for  whom  we  long  waited,  and  now  we  see  we 
have  not  waited  in  vain!  O  how  should  it  then  be  the 
character  of  a  Christian  "  to  wait  for  the  Son  of  God 
from  heaven,  whom  he  raised  from  the  dead,  even  Jesus, 
which  delivered  us  from  the  wrath  to  come,"  1  Thess. 
i,  10 ;  and  with  all  faithful  diligence  to  prepare  to  meet 
our  Lord  with  joy.  And  seeing  his  coming  is  of  pur- 
pose "  to  be  glorified  in  his  saints,  and  admired  in  all 
them  that  believe,"  what  thought  should  glad  our 
hearts  more  than  the  thought  of  that  day  ?  A  little 
while  indeed  we  have  not  "  seen  him,  but  yet  a  little 
while  and  we  shall  see  him,"  for  he  hath  said,  "  I  will 
not  leave  you  comfortless,  but  will  come  unto  you." 
We  were  comfortless  should  he  not  come.  And  while 
we  daily  gaze  and  look  up  to  heaven  after  him,  let  us 
remember  what  the  angel  said,  "  This  same  Jesus  which 
is  taken  up  from  you  into  heaven,  shall  so  come  in  like 
manner  as  ye  have  seen  him  go  into  heaven."  Let 
every  Christian  that  heareth  and  readeth  say,  Come  ; 
and  our  Lord  himself  saith,  "  Surely  I  come  quickly ; 
amen  :  even  so,  come.  Lord  Jesus." 

The  second  stream  that  leadeth  to  paradise  is  that 
great  work  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  raising  our  bodies  from 
the  dust,  uniting  them  again  unto  the  soul.  What,  saith 
the  atheist,  shall  all  these  scattered  bones  and  dust  be- 
come a  man  ?  Thou  fool,  dost  thou  dispute  against  the 
power  of  the  Almighty  !  Dost  thou  object  difliculties  ta 
infinite  strength  ?  thou  blind  mole !  thou  little  piece 
of  creeping,  breathing,  clay  ?  But  come  thy  way,  let  me 
take  thee  by  the  hand,  and  with  reverence  (as  Elihu) 
plead  for  God  ;  and  for  that  power  whereby  I  hope  to 
arise.  Seest  thou  this  great  massy  body  of  the  earth  ? 
Upon  what  foundation  doth  it  stand  ?  Seest  thou  this 
vast  ocean  of  waters  ?  What  limits  them,  and  why  do 
they  not  overflow  and  drown  the  earth  ?  Whence  is 
that  constant  ebbing  and  flowing  of  her  tides  ?  Wilt 
thou  say  from  the  moon,  or  other  planets  ?  and  whence 
have  they  that  influence  ?     Must  thou  not  come  to  a 


30  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

cause  of  causes,  that  can  do  all  things  ?  And  doth  not 
reason  require  thee  to  conceive  of  that  cause  as  a  per- 
fect intelligence,  and  voluntary  agent,  and  not  such  a 
blind  worker  and  empty  notion  as  that  nothing  is  which 
thou  callest  nature  ?  What  thinkest  thou  ?  Is  not  that 
power  able  to  effect  thy  resurrection,  which  doth  all 
this  ?  Is  it  not  as  easy  to  raise  the  dead,  as  to  make 
heaven,  and  earth,  and  all,  out  of  nothing  ?  But  if  thou 
be  unpersuadable,  all  I  say  to  thee  more  is  as  the  pro- 
phet to  the  prince  of  Samaria,  2  Kings  vii,  19,  "  Thou 
shalt  see  that  day  with  thine  eyes,  but  little  to  thy  com- 
fort ;  for  that  which  is  the  day  of  relief  to  the  saints, 
shall  be  a  day  of  revenge  on  thee." 

Come  then,  fellow  Christians,  let  us  commit  these  car- 
casses to  the  dust :  that  prison  shall  not  long  contain 
them.  Let  us  lie  down  in  peace,  and  take  our  rest :  it 
will  not  be  an  everlasting  night,  or  endless  sleep.  What 
if  we  go  out  of  the  troubles  and  stirs  of  the  world,  and 
enter  into  those  chambers  of  dust,  and  the  doors  be  shut 
upon  us,  and  we  hide  ourselves,  as  it  were,  for  a  little 
mom.ent  "until  the  indignation  be  overpast?"  Yet,' 
*'  behold  the  Lord  cometh  out  of  his  place,  to  punish  the 
inhabitants  of  the  earth  for  their  iniquity  :"  and  then  the 
earth  shall  disclose  us,  and  the  dust  shall  hide  us  no 
more.  As  sure  as  we  awake  in*  the  morning,  when  we 
have  slept  out  the  night,  so  sure  shall  we  then  awake. 

Lay  down  then  cheerfully  this  lump  of  corruption  : 
thou  shalt  undoubtedly  receive  it  again  in  incorruption. 
Lay  down  freely  this  terrestrial,  this  natural  body :  thou 
shalt  receive  it  again  a  celestial,  a  spiritual  body. 
Though  thou  lay  it  down  with  great  dishonour,  thou 
shalt  receive  it  in  glory :  and  though  thou  art  separated 
from  it  through  weakness,  it  shall  be  raised  again  in 
mighty  power.  When  the  trumpet  of  God  shall  sound 
the  call,  "  Come  away,  rise,  ye  dead,"  who  shall  then 
stay  behind  ?  Who  can  resist  the  powerful  command  of 
our  Lord  ?  When  he  shall  call  to  the  earth  and  sea, 
"  O  earth,  O  sea,  give  up  thy  dead,"  the  first  that  shall 
be  called  are  the  saints  that  sleep  ;  and  then  the  saints 
that  are  alive  shall  be  changed.  For  "  they  which  are 
alive,  and  remain  till  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  shall  not 
prevent  them  which  are  asleep.     For  the  Lord  himself 


EVERLASTING   REST.  31 

shall  descend  from  heaven  with  a  shout,  with  the  voice 
of  the  archangel,  and  with  the  trump  of  God  ;  and  the 
dead  in  Christ  shall  rise  first.  Then  they  which  are 
alive  and  remain,  shall  be  caught  up  together  with  them 
in  the  clouds,  to  meet  the  Lord  in  the  air ;  and  so  shall 
we  ever  be  with  the  Lord."  Triumph,  now,  O  Christian ! 
in  these  promises  ;  thou  shalt  shortly  triumph  in  their 
performance :  for  this  is  the  day  that  the  Lord  will 
make ;  "  We  shall  be  glad  and  rejoice  therein."  The 
grave  that  could  not  keep  our  Lord,  cannot  keep  us. 
He  arose  for  us,  and  by  the  same  power  wall  cause  us  to 
arise.  "  For  if  we  believe  that  Jesus  died  and  rose 
again,  even  so  them  also  which  sleep  in  Jesus  will  God 
bring  with  him."  Therefore  let  our  hearts  be  glad,  and 
our  glory  rejoice,  and  our  flesh  also  rest  in  hope ;  for 
he  will  not  leave  us  in  the  grave,  nor  sufl^er  us  still  to 
see  corruption.  Yea,  "  therefore  let  us  be  steadfast,  un- 
movable,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord, 
forasmuch  as  we  know  our  labour  is  not  in  vain  in  the 
Lord." 

The  third  part  of  this  prologue  to  the  saints'  rest,  is 
the  solemn  process  at  their  judgment,  where  they  shall 
first  themselves  be  justified  ;  and  then  with  Christ  judge 
the  world.  All  the  world  must  there  appear,  young  and 
old,  of  all  estates  and  nations,  that  ever  were  from  the 
creation  to  that  day.  The  judgment  shall  be  set,  and 
the  books  opened,  and  the  book  of  life  produced :  "and 
the  dead  shall  be  judged  out  of  those  things  which  were 
written  in  the  books,  according  to  their  works ;  and 
whosoever  is  not  found  written  in  the  book  of  life, 
is  cast  into  the  lake  of  fire."  O  terrible !  O  joy- 
ful day !  Terrible  to  those  that  have  not  watched, 
but  forgot  the  coming  of  their  Lord  !  joyful  to  the 
saints,  whose  waiting  and  hope  was  to  ^ee  this  day  ! 
Then  shall  the  world  behold  the  goodness  and  severity 
of  the  Lord ;  on  them  who  perish,  severity ;  but  to  his 
chosen,  goodness.  When  every  one  must  give  account 
of  his  stewardship  :  and  every  talent  of  time,  health,  wit, 
mercies,  affliction,  means,  warnings,  must  be  reckoned 
for.  When  the  sins  of  youth,  and  those  which  they 
had  forgotten,  and  their  secret  sins,  shall  be  laid  open 
before  angels  and  men.     When  they  shall  see  all  their 


32  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

friends,  wealth,  old  delights,  all  their  confidence  and 
false  hopes,  forsake  them.  When  they  shall  see  the 
Lord  Jesus  whom  they  neglected,  whose  word  they  dis- 
obeyed, whose  ministers  they  abused,  whose  servants 
they  hated,  now  sitting  to  judge  them.  When  their  own 
consciences  shall  cry  out  against  them,  and  call  to  their 
remembrance  all  their  misdoings.  Remember,  at  such 
a  time,  such  or  such  a  sin  ;  at  such  a  time,  Christ  sued 
hard  for  thy  conversion ;  the  minister  pressed  it  home 
to  thy  heart,  thou  wast  touched  to  the  quick  with  the 
word ;  thou  didst  purpose  and  promise  returning,  and 
yet  thou  didst  cast  off  all.  O  which  way  will  the 
wretched  sinner  look  !  O  who  can  conceive  the  thoughts 
of  his  heart !  Now  the  world  cannot  help  him  ;  his  old 
companions  cannot  help  him  ;  the  saints  neither  can  nor 
will ;  only  the  Lord  Jesus  can :  but  there  is  the  misery, 
he  will  not ;  nay,  without  violating  the.  truth  of  his 
word,  he  cannot :  though  otherwise,  in  regard  of  his  ab- 
solute power,  he  might.  The  time  was,  sinner,  when 
Christ  would,  and  you  would  not ;  and  now,  fain  would 
you,  and  he  will  not.  What  then  remains  but  to  cry  to 
the  mountains,  "  Fall  on  us ;  and  the  hills,  cover  us 
from  the  presence  of  Him  that  sits  upon  the  throne  !'* 
But  all  in  vain !  for  thou  hast  the  Lord  of  mountains 
and  hills  for  thine  enemy,  whose  voice  they  will  obey, 
and  not  thine.  Sinner,  make  not  light  of  this ;  for  as 
thou  livest,  (except  a  thorough  change  prevent  it,)  thou 
shalt  shortly,  to  thy  inconceivable  horror,  see  that  day. 
Poor  careless  sinner,  I  did  not  think  here  to  have  said 
so  much  to  thee :  but  if  these  lines  fall  into  thy  hands, 
"  I  charge  thee,  before  God,  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
who  shall  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead  at  his  appearing, 
and  his  kingdom,"  that  thou  make  haste  and  get  alone, 
and  set  thyself  sadly  to  ponder  these  things.  Ask  thy 
heart.  Is  this  true,  or  is  it  not?  Is  there  such  a  day, 
and  must  I  see  it?  What  do  I  then  !  Is  it  not  time,  full 
time,  that  I  had  made  sure  of  Christ  and  comfort  long 
ago?  Should  I  sit  still  another  day,  who  have  lost  so 
many  ?  Friend,  I  profess  to  thee  from  the  word  of  the 
Lord,  that  of  all  thy  sweet  sins  there  will  then  be  no- 
thing left  but  the  sting  in  thy  conscience,  which  will 
be  never  out  through  all  eternity. 


THE  saints'  everlasting  REST.  33- 

But  why  tremblest  thou,  O  gracious  soul !  He  that 
would  not  overlook  one  Lot  in  Sodom  ;  nay,  that  could 
do  nothing  till  he  went  forth  ;  will  he  forget  thee  at  that 
day?  ''Thy  Lord  knoweth  how  to  deliver  the  godly 
out  of  temptation,  and  to  reserve  the  unjust  to  the  day 
of  judgment  to  be  punished."  He  knoweth  how  to  make 
the  same  day  the  greatest  terror  to  his  foes,  and  yet  the 
greatest  joy  to  his  people.  "  There  is  no  condemnation 
to  them  that  are  in  Christ  Jesus,  who  walk  not  after  the 
flesh,  but  after  the  spirit."  And,  "  who  shall  lay  any 
thing  to  the  charge  of  God's  elect!"  Shall  the  law? 
Why,  "  whatsoever  the  law  saith,  it  saith  to  them  that 
are  under  the  law  ;  but  we  are  not  under  the  law,  but 
under  grace ;  for  the  law  of  the  spirit  of  life,  which  is 
in  Christ  Jesus,  hath  made  us  free  from  the  law  of  sia 
and  death."  Or  shall  conscience  ?  We  were  long  ago 
justified  by  faith,  and  so  have  peace  with  God,  and  have 
our  hearts  sprinkled  from  an  evil  co?iscience ;  and  the 
Spirit  bearing  witness  with  our  spirits  that  we  are  the- 
children  of  God.  "  It  is  God  that  justifieth,  who  shall 
condemn  ?"  If  our  Judge  condemn  us  not,  who  shall  ? 
He  that  said  to  the  adulterous  woman,  "Hath  no  man 
condemned  thee  ?  Neither  do  I  condemn  thee  ;"  he  will 
say  to  us,  (more  faithfully  than  Peter  to  him,)  "  Though 
all  men  deny  thee,  or  condemn  thee,  I  will  not.  Thou 
hast  confessed  me  before  men,  and  I  will  confess  thee 
before  my  Father  and  the  angels  in  heaven." 

What  inexpressible  joy  may  this  afford  a  believer  ? 
Our  dear  Lord  shall  be  our  Judge.  Will  a  man  fear  to 
be  judged  by  his  dearest  friend,  by  a  brother,  by  a  fa- 
ther, or  a  wife  by  her  own  husband  ?  Did  he  come 
down,  and  suffer,  and  weep,  and  bleed,  and  die  for  thee ; 
and  will  he  now  condemn  thee?  Was  he  judged  and 
condemned,  and  executed  in  thy  stead,  and  now  will  he 
condemn  thee  ?  Hath  it  cost  him  so  dear  to  save  thee  ! 
and  will  he  now  destroy  thee  ?  Hath  he  done  the  most 
of  the  work  already,  in  justifying,  preserving,  and  per- 
fecting thee?  and  will  he  now  undo  all  again  ?  O  what 
an  unreasonable  sin  is  unbelief,  that  will  charge  our 
Lord  with  such  absurdities  !  Well,  then,  fellow  Chris- 
tians, let  the  terror  of  that  day  be  never  so  great,  our 
Lord  can  mean  no  ill  to  us  in  all.  Let  it  make  the  de- 
2* 


34  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

vils  tremble  ;  and  the  wicked  tremble  ;  but  it  shall  make 
us  leap  for  joy.  And  it  must  needs  affect  us  deeply 
with  the  sense  of  our  mercy  and  happiness,  to  behold 
the  contrary  condition  of  others.  To  see  most  of  the 
world  tremble  with  terror,  while  we -triumph  with  joy  : 
to  see  them  thrust  into  hell,  when  we  are  proclaimed 
heirs  of  the  kingdom  ;  to  see  our  neighbours  that  lived 
in  the  same  towns,  came  to  the  same  congregations, 
dwelt  in  the  same  houses,  and  were  esteemed  more  ho- 
nourable in  the  world  than  ourselves  ;  now  so  differenced 
from  us,  and  by  the  Searcher  of  hearts  eternally  sepa- 
rated. This,  with  the  great  magnificence  and  dreadful 
ness  of  the  day,  doth  the  apostle  pathetically  express, 
in  2Thess.  i,  6-10,  "  It  is  a  righteous  thing  with  God  to 
recompense  tribulation  to  them  that  trouble  you  ;  and  to 
you  who  are  troubled,  rest  with  us  ;  when  the  Lord 
Jesus  shall  be  revealed  from  heaven  with  his  mighty 
angels,  in  flaming  fire,  taking  vengeance  on  them  that 
know  not  God  and  obey  not  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ;  who  shall  be  punished  with  everlasting 
destruction  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord  and  from  the 
glory  of  his  power."  And  now  is  not  here  enough  to 
make  that  day  a  welcome  day,  and  the  thoughts  of  it 
delightful  to  us  ?  But  yet  there  is  more.  We  shall  be 
so  far  from  the  dread  of  that  judgment,  that  ourselves 
shall  become  the  judges.  Christ  will  take  his  people, 
as  it  were  into  commission  with  him  ;  and  they  shall  sit 
and  approve  his  righteous  judgment. 

"  Do  you  not  know  that  the  saints  shall  judge  the 
world?"  Nay,  "Know  you  not  that  we  shall  judge 
angels  ?"  Surely,  were  it  not  the  word  of  Christ  that 
speaks  it,  this  advancement  would  seem  incredible  ;  yet 
even  Enoch,  the  seventh  from  Adam,  prophesied  of  this, 
saying,  "  Behold  the  Lord  cometh  with  ten  thousand  of 
his  saints,  to  execute  judgment  upon  all,  and  convince 
all  that  are  ungodly  among  them,  of  their  ungodly 
deeds,  which  they  have  ungodly  committed  ;  and  of  all 
their  hard  speeches  which  ungodly  sinners  have  spoken 
against  him,"  Jude  14,  &c.  Thus  shall  the  saints  be 
honoured,  and  the  "  righteous  have  dominion  in  the 
morning."  O  that  the  careless  world  weye  "  but  wise 
to  consider  this,"  and  "  that  they  would  remember  their 


EVERLASTING    REST.  36 

latter  end  I"  That  they  would  be  now  of  the  same 
mind,  as  they  will  be  when  they  shall  see  the  "  heavens 
pass  away  with  a  great  noise,  and  the  elements  melt 
with  fervent  heat ;  the  earth  also,  and  the  works  that 
are  therein  be  burnt  up  !"  When  all  shall  be  on  lire 
about  their  ears,  and  all  earthly  glory  consumed.  For 
*'  the  lieavens  and  the  earth  which  are  now  by  the  same 
word  are  kept  in  store,  reserved  unto  fire  against  the 
day  of  judgment,  and  perdition  of  ungodly  men.  Seeing 
then  all  these  things  shall  be  dissolved,  what  manner  of 
persons  ought  ye  to  be  in  all  holy  conversation  and 
godliness  ;  looking  for,  and  hasting  to  the  coming  of  the 
day  of  God  ;  wherein  the  heavens  being  on  fire,  shall  be 
dissolved,  and  the  elements  melt  with  fervent  heat." 

The  fourth  antecedent  to  the  saints'  advancement  is, 
their  solemn  coronation,  and  receiving  into  the  king- 
dom. For  as  Christ,  their  head,  is  anointed  both  king 
and  priest ;  so  under  him  are  his  people  made  unto  God 
both  kings  and  priests  :  "  To  reign  and  to  offer  praises 
for  ever,"  Rev.  v.  10  :  "  The  crown  of  righteousness 
which  was  laid  up  for  them,  shall  by  the  Lord,  the 
righteous  judge,  be  given  them  at  that  day,"  2  Tim.  iv, 
8  :  "  They  have  been  faithful  to  the  death,  and  therefore 
shall  receive  the  crown  of  life  :"  and  according  to  the 
improvement  of  their  talents  here,  so  shall  their  rule  and 
dignity  be  enlarged.  So  that  they  are  not  dignified  with 
empty  titles,  but  real  dominions.  For  "  Christ  will 
take  them  and  set  them  down  with  himself,  in  his  own 
throne  ;  and  will  give  them  power  over  the  nations, 
even  as  he  received  of  his  Father :  and  will  give  them 
the  morning  star."  The  Lord  himself  will  give  them 
possession  with  these  applauding  expressions  :  *'  Well 
done,  good  and  faithful  servant,  thou  hast  been  faithful 
over  a  few  things,  I  will  make  thee  ruler  over  many 
things  ;  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord."  And 
with  this  solemn  and  blessed  proclamation  shall  he  en- 
throne them  ;  "  Come,  ye  blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit 
the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  from  the  foundation  of 
the  world."  Every  word  is  full  of  life  and  joy. 
["  Come."]  This  is  the  holding  forth  of  the  golden 
sceptre ;  to  warrant  our  approach  unto  this  glory. 
Come  now  as  near  as  you  will :  fear  not  the  Bethshem- 


36  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

ites'  judgment  :  for  the  enmity  is  utterly  taken  away. 
This  is  not  such  a  "  Come"  as  we  were  wont  to  hear, 
"  Come,  take  up  your  cross  and  follow  me  :"  though 
that  was  sweet,  yet  this  is  much  more  so.  ["  Ye  bless- 
ed."] Blessed  indeed,  when  that  mouth  shall  so  pro- 
nounce us.  For  though  the  world  hath  accounted  us 
accursed,  yet  certainly  those  that  he  blesseth  are  blessed : 
and  those  whom  he  curseth  only,  are  cursed  :  and  his 
blessing  shall  not  be  revoked.  But  he  hath  blessed  us, 
and  we  shall  be  blessed.  ["Of  my  Father."]  Blessed 
in  the  Father's  love  as  well  as  the  Son's ;  for  they  are 
one  :  the  Father  hath  testified  his  love,  in  sending  Christ 
and  accepting  his  ransom ;  as  the  Son  hath  also  testified 
his.  p'  Inherit."]  No  longer  bondmen,  nor  servants 
only,  nor  children  under  age  who  differ  not  in  posses- 
sion, but  only  in  the  title  from  servants  ;  but  now,  we 
are  "  heirs  of  the  kingdom,  co-heirs  with  Christ." 
["  The  kingdom."]  No  less  than  the  kingdom  !  Indeed 
to  be  King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords,  is  our  Lord's 
own  title  :  but  to  be  kings  and  reign  with  him,  is  ours : 
the  fruition  of  this  kingdom  is  as  the  fruition  of  the  light 
of  the  sun,  each  hath  the  whole,  and  the  rest  never  the 
less.  ["  Prepared  for  you."]  'God  is  the  Alpha,  as  well 
as  the  Om-cga  of  our  blessedness.  Eternal  love  hath 
laid  the  foundation.  He  prepared  the  kingdom  for  us, 
and  then  prepared  us  for  the  kingdom.  This  is  the  pre- 
paration of  his  counsel ;  for  the  execution  whereof 
Christ  was  yet  to  make  a  farther  preparation.  ["  For 
you."]  Not  for  believers  only  in  general,  but  for  you 
in  particular.  ["From  the  foundation  of  the  world."] 
Not  only  from  the  promise  after  Adam's  fall,  but  from 
eternity. 

But  a  difficulty  ariseth  in  our  way.  In  v/hat  sense  is 
our  improvement  of  our  talent,  our  well  doing,  our  over- 
coming, our  harbouring,  visiting,  feeding  Christ  in  his 
little  ones,  alleged  as  a  reason  of  our  coronation  and 
glory?  Is  it  not  the  purchased  possession,  and  mere 
fruit  of  Christ's  blood  ?  If  every  man  must  be  judged 
according  to  his  works,  and  receive  according  to  what 
they  have  done  in  the  flesh,  whether  good  or  evil ;  if 
God  "  will  render  to  every  man  according  to  his  deeds," 
Rom.  ii,  6,  7,  and  give  eternal  life  to  all  men,  if  they 


THE  saints'   everlasting  REST.  37 

patiently  continue  in  well  doing ;  if  he  will  give  right  to 
the  tree  of  life,  Rev.  xxii,  14,  and  entrance  into  the  city, 
to  the  doers  of  his  commandments ;  and  if  this  last 
absolving  sentence  be  the  completing  of  our  justification  ; 
and  so  "  the  doers  of  the  law  be  justified,"  Rom.  ii,  13, 
then  what  is  become  of  free  grace  ?  or  justification  by 
faith  only  ?  of  the  sole  righteousness  of  Christ  to  make 
us  accepted  ?    I  answer, 

1.  Let  not  the  names  of  men  draw  thee  one  way  or 
other,  nor  make  thee  partial  in  searching  for  the  truth  : 
dislike  the  men  for  their  unsound  doctrine  ;  but  call  not 
doctrine  unsound,  because  it  is  theirs :  nor  sound 
because  of  the  repute  of  the  writer. 

2.  Know  this,  that  as  an  unhumbled  soul  is  far  apter 
to  give  too  much  to  duty  and  personal  righteousness, 
than  to  Christ ;  so  an  humble  self-denying  Christian  is 
as  likely  to  err  on  the  other  hand,  in  giving  less  to  duty 
than  Clir-ist  hath  given,  and  laying  all  the  work  from 
himself  on  Christ,  for  fear  of  robbing  Christ  of  the 
honour  ;  and  so  much  to  look  at  Christ  without  him, 
and  think  he  should  look  at  nothing  in  himself ;  that  he 
forgets  Christ  within  him. 

3.  Our  giving  to  Christ  more  of  the  work  than  Scrip- 
ture doth,  or  rather  our  ascribing  it  to  him  out  of  the 
Scripture  way,  doth  but  dishonour,  and  not  honour  him  ; 
and  depress,  but  not  exalt  his  free  grace  ;  while  we  deny 
the  inward  sanctifying  work  of  his  Spirit,  and  extol  his 
free  justification,  which  are  equal  fruits  of  his  merit, 
we  make  him  an  imperfect  Saviour. 

4.  But  to  arrogate  to  ourselves  any  part  of  Christ's  pre- 
rogative, is  most  desperate  of  all,  and  no  doctrine  more 
directly  overthrows  the  Gospel  almost,  than  that  of 
justification  by  the  merits  of  our  own,  or  by  works  of 
the  law. 

And  thus  we  have  seen  the  Christian  safely  landed  in 
paradise  ;  and  conveyed  honourably  to  his  rest.  Now 
let  us  a  little  farther  view  those  mansions,  consider  his 
privileges,  and  see  whether  there  be  any  glory  like  unto 
this  glory. 


38  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

CHAPTER  V, 

THE    EXCELLENCES    OF    OUR   REST 

Let  us  see  more  immediately  from  the  pure  fountain 
of  the  Scriptures  what  farther  excellences  this  rest 
aftbrdeth.  And  the  Lord  hide  us  in  the  clefts  of  the 
rock,  and  cover  us  with  the  hands  of  indulgent  grace, 
while  we  approach  to  take  this  view. 

And  first,  it  is  a  most  singular  honour  of  the  saints' 
rest,  to  be  called  the  purchased  possession ;  that  it  is 
the  fruit  of  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  God :  yea,  the  chief 
fruit :  yea,  the  end  and  perfection  of  all  the  fruits  of 
that  blood.  Surely  love  is  the  most  precious  ingredient 
in  the  whole  composition  ;  and  of  all  the  flowers  that 
grow  in  the  garden  of  love,  can  there  be  brought  one 
more  sweet  than  this  blood  1  Greater  love  than  this 
there  is  not,  to  lay  down  the  life  of  the  lover.  And  to 
have  this  our  Redeemer  ever  before  our  eyes,  and  the 
liveliest  sense  and  freshest  remembrance  of  that  dying 
bleeding  love  still  upon  our  souls  ;  O  how  will  it  fill  our 
souls  with  perpetual  ravishments  to  think  that  in  the 
streams  of  this  blood  we  have  sv/am  through  the  vio- 
lence of  the  world,  the  snares  of  Satan,  the  seduce- 
ments  of  the  flesh,  the  curse  of  the  law,  the  wrath  of  an 
ofl?ended  God,  the  accusations  of  a  guilty  conscience, 
and  the  doubts  and  fears  of  an  unbelieving  heart,  and 
are  passed  through  all  and  arrived  safely  at  the  breast  of 
God  !  Now  we  are  stupified  with  vile  and  senseless 
hearts,  that  can  hear  all  the  story  of  this  love,  and  read 
all  the  sufferings  of  love ;  and  all  with  dulness,  and 
unaftectedness.  He  cries  to  us,  "  Behold  and  see,  is  it 
nothing  to  you,  O  all  ye  that  pass  by  1  Is  there  any 
sorrow  like  unto  my  sorrow?"  And  we  will  scarce 
hear  or  regard  the  voice  ;  or  turn  aside  to  view  the 
wounds  of  Him  who  Jiealed  our  wounds  at  so  dear  a  rate. 
But  O  !  then  our  perfected  souls  will  feel  as  well  as  hear, 
and  with  feeling  apprehensions  flame  in  love  for  love. 
Now  we  set  his  picture  wounded  and  dying  before  our 
eyes,  but  can  get  it  no  nearer  our  hearts  than  if  we 
believed  nothing  of  what  we  read.     But  then  when  the 


EVERLASTING  REST.  39 

obstructions  between  the  eye  and  the  understanding  are 
taken  away,  and  the  passage  opened  between  the  head 
and  heart,  surely  our  eyes  will  everlastingly  affect  our 
heart !  And  while  we  view  with  one  eye  our  slain, 
revived  Lord,  and  with  the  other  eye  our  lost  recovered 
souls,  these  views  will  eternally  pierce  us,  and  warm 
our  very  souls.  And  those  eyes  through  which  folly 
hath  so  often  stolen  into  our  hearts  let  in  the  love  of 
our  dearest  Lord  for  ever. 

We  shall  then  leave  these  hearts  of  stone  and  rock 
behind  us,  and  the  sin  that  here  so  close  besets  us,  and 
the  sottish  unkindness  that  followed  us  so  long,  shall 
not  be  able  to  follow  us  into  glory.  But  we  shall  behold, 
as  it  were,  the  wounds  of  love,  with  eyes  and  hearts  of 
love  for  ever.  Now  his  heart  is  open  to  us,  and  ours 
shut  to  him :  but  when  his  heart  shall  be  open,  and  our 
hearts  oj^en,  O  !  the  blessed  congress  that  will  then  be  ! 
What  a  passionate  meeting  is  there  between  our  new 
risen  Lord  and  the  first  sinful  woman  that  he  appears 
to  !  How  doth  love  struggle  for  expressions  ?  and  the 
straitened  fire  shut  up  in  the  breast  strive  to  break 
forth  ?  Mary  !  saith  Christ :  Master  !  saith  Mary  :  and 
presently  she  clasps  about  his  feet,  having  her  heart  as 
near  to  his  heart  as  her  hands  were  to  his  feet.  What  a 
meeting  of  love  then  will  there  be  between  the  newly 
glorified  saint  and  the  glorious  Redeemer !  But  I  am 
here  at  a  loss,  my  apprehensions  fail  me,  and  fall  too 
short.  Only  this  I  know,  it  will  be  the  singular  praise 
of  our  inheritance,  that  it  was  bought  with  the  price  of 
that  blood  ;  and  the  singular  joy  of  the  saints,  to  behold 
the  purchaser  and  the  price,  together  with  the  posses- 
sion :  neither  will  the  views  of  the  wounds  of  love 
renew  our  wounds  or  sorrow :  He  whose  first  words 
after  his  resurrection  were  to  a  great  sinner,  "  Woman, 
why  weepest  thou  ?"  knows  how  to  raise  love  and  joy 
by  all  those  views,  without  raising  any  cloud  of  sorrow. 
If  a  dying  friend  deliver  but  a  token  of  his  love,  how 
carefully  do  we  preserve  it?  and  still  remember  him 
when  we  behold  it,  as  if  his  own  name  were  written  on 
it  ?  And  will  not  then  the  death  and  blood  of  our  Lord 
everlastingly  sweeten  our  possessed  glory  ?  Well  then, 
Christians,  as  you  use  to  do  in  your  books,  and  on  your 


40  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

goods  to  write  down  the  price  they  cost  you :  so  on 
your  righteousness,  and  on  your  glory,  write  dcwn  the 
price,  the  precious  blood  of  Christ. 

Yet  understand  this  rightly  :  not  that  this  highest 
glory  was  in  the  strictest  sense  purchased,  so  as  that  it 
was  the  most  immediate  effect  of  Christ's  death  ;  we 
must  take  heed  that  we  conceive  not  of  God  as  a  tyrant, 
who  so  delighteth  in  cruelty  as  to  exchange  mercies  for 
stripes.  God  was  never  so  pleased  with  the  sufferings 
of  the  innocent,  much  less  of  his  Son,  as  to  sell  his 
mercy  properly  for  their  sufferings.  But  the  sufferings 
of  Christ  were  primarily  and  immediately  to  satisfy 
justice,  and.  to  bear  what  was  due  to  the  sinner,  and  so 
to  restore  him  to  the  life  he  lost,  and  the  happiness  he 
fell  from  :  but  this  dignity,  which  surpasseth  the  first, 
as  it  were,  from  the  redundancy  of  his  merit,  or  a 
secondary  fruit  of  his  death.  The  work  of  his  redemp- 
tion so  well  pleased  the  Father,  that  he  gave  him  power 
to  advance  his  chosen  to  a  higher  dignity  than  they  fell 
from  ;  and  to  give  them  the  glory  which  was  given  to 
himself;  and  all  this  according  to  the  good  pleasure  of 
his  own  will, 

2.  The  second  pearl  in  the  saints^  diadem  is,  that  it 
is  free.  This  seemeth,  as  Pharaoh's  second  kine,  "  to 
devour  the  former."  But  the  seeming  discord  is  but  a 
pleasing  diversity  which  constitutes  the  melody.  These 
two  attributes,  purchased  and  free,  are  the  two  chains 
of  gold  which  make  up  the  wreath  for  the  head  of  the 
pillars  in  the  temple  of  God.  It  was  dear  to  Christ, 
but  free  to, us.  When  Christ  was  to  buy,  silver  and 
gold  were  nothing  worth  ;  prayers  and  tears  could  not 
suffice  ;  nor  any  thing  below  his  blood  ;  but  when  we 
come  to  buy,  our  buying  is  but  receiving :  we  have  it 
freely,  "  without  money  and  without  price."  Nor  do 
the  Gospel  conditions  make  it  the  less  free.  If  the  Gos- 
pel conditions  had  been  such  as  are  the  laws,  or  pay- 
ment of  the  debt  required  at  our  hands,  the  freeness 
then  were  more  questionable.  Yea,  if  God  had  said  to 
us,  ^^  Sinners,  if  you  will  satisfy  my  justice  for  one  of 
your  sins,  I  will  forgive  you  all  the  rest,^^  it  would 
have  been  a  hard  condition  on  our  part,  and  the  grace 
of  the  covenant  not  so  free,  as  our  disability  doth  re- 


THE  saints'  everlasting  REST.  41 

quire.  But  if  all  the  condition  be  our  cordial  accepta- 
tion, surely  we  deserve  not  the  name  of  purchasers. 
Thankfully  accepting  of  a  free  acquittance,  is  no  paying 
of  the  debt.  If  life  be  offered  to  a  condemned  man, 
upon  condition  that  he  shall  not  refuse  the  offer,  the 
favour  is  nevertheless  free.  Nay,  though  the  condition 
were,  that  he  should  beg,  and  wait  before  he  have  his 
pardon,  and  take  him  for  his  Lord  who  hath  thus  re- 
deemed him,  this  is  no  satisfying  the  justice  of  the  law : 
especially  when  the  condition  is  also  given  by  God. 
Surely  then  here  all  is  free  :  if  the  Father  freely  give 
the  Son,  and  the  Son  freely  pay  the  debt ;  and  if  God 
freely  accept  that  way  of  payment,  when  he  might  have 
required  it  of  the  principal ;  and  if  both  Father  and  Son 
freely  offer  us  the  purchased  life  upon  those  fair  con- 
ditions ;  and  if  they  also  freely  send  the  Spirit  to  enable 
us  to  perform  those  conditions,  then  what  is  here  that  is 
not  free  ?  O  the  everlasting  admiration  that  must  needs 
surprise  the  saints  to  think  of  this  freeness  !  What  did 
the  Lord  see  in  me,  that  he  should  judge  me  meet  for 
such  a  state  ?  that  I,  who  was  but  a  poor  despised 
wretch,  should  be  clad  in  the  brightness  of  this  glory  ? 
that  I,  a  silly  creeping  worm,  should  be  advanced  to  this 
high  dignity?  He  that  durst  not  lift  up  his  eyes  to 
heaven,  but  stood  afar  off  smiting  his  breast,  and  crying, 
"  Lord,  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner !"  now  to  be  lifted 
up  to  heaven  himself !  He  who  was  wont  to  write  his 
name  in  Bradford's  style,  the  unthankful,  the  hard- 
hearted^ the  unworthy  sinner  !  and  was  wont  to  admire 
that  patience  could  bear  so  long,  and  justice  suffer  him 
to  live  :  sure  he  will  admire  at  this  alteration,  when  he 
shall  find,  by  experience,  that  unworthiness  could  not 
hinder  his  salvation,  which  he  thought  would  have 
bereaved  him  of  every  mercy.  Ah  !  Christian,  there  is 
no  talk  of  our  worthiness  or  unworthiness.  If  worthi- 
ness were  our  condition  for  admittance,  we  might  sit 
down  with  St.  John  and  weep,  "  because  none  in  heaven 
or  on  earth  is  found  Avorthy.  But  the  Lion  of  the  tribe 
of  Judah  is  worthy,  and  hath  prevailed  ;  and  by  that 
title  must  we  hold  the  inheritance."  We  shall  offer 
there  the  offering  that  David  refused,  *'  even  praise  for 
that  which  cost  us   nothing."     Here  our  commission 


43  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

runs,  "  Freely  ye  have  received,  freely  give."  But 
Christ  hath  dearly  received,  yet  freely  gives.  Yet  this 
is  not  all.  If  it  were  only  for  nothing,  and  without  our 
merit,  the  wonder  were  great :  but  it  is  moreover  against 
our  merit,  and  against  our  long  endeavouring  our  own 
ruin.  The  broken  heart  that  hath  known  the  desert  of 
sin,  doth  both  understand  and  feel  what  I  say.  What 
an  astonishing  thought  it  will  be,  to  think  of  the  un- 
measurable  difference  between  our  deservings  and  our 
receivings  !  between  the  state  we  should  have  been  in, 
and  the  state  we  are  in  !  to  look  down  upon  hell,  and 
see  the  vast  difference  that  free  grace  hath  made  betwixt 
us  and  them  !  to  see  the  inheritance  there  which  we 
were  born  to,  so  different  from  that  which  we  are 
adopted  tt) !  O !  what  pangs  of  love  will  it  cause 
within  us  to  think,  yonder  was  the  place  that  sin  would 
have  brought  me  to  ;  but  this  is  it  that  Christ  hath 
brought  me  to  !  Yonder  death  was  the  wages  of  my 
sin ;  but  this  "  eternal  life  is  the  gift  of  God,  through 
Jesus  Christ  my  Lord."  Doubtless  this  will  be  our 
everlasting  admiration,  that  so  rich  a  crown  should  fit 
the  head  of  so  vile  a  sinner !  that  such  high  advance- 
ment, and  such  long  unfruitfulness  and  unkindness  can 
be  the  state  of  the  same  persons  !  and  that  such  vile 
rebellions  can  conclude  in  such  most  precious  joys  ! 
But  no  thanks  to  us  :  nor  to  any  of  our  duties  and  la- 
bours, much  less  to  our  neglects  and  laziness  ;  we  know 
to  whom  the  praise  is  due,  and  must  be  given  for  ever. 
And  indeed  to  this  very  end  it  was,  that  Infinite  Wisdom 
did  cast  the  whole  design  of  man's  salvation  into  the 
mould  of  PURCHASE  and  freeness,  that  the  love  and  joy 
of  man  might  be  perfected,  and  the  honour  of  grace 
most  highly  advanced  :  that  the  thought  of  merit  might 
neither  cloud  the  one,  nor  obstruct  the  other ;  and  that 
on  these  two  hinges  the  gates  of  heaven  might  turn. 
So  then  let  [deserved]  be  written  on  the  door  of  hell, 
but  on  the  door  of  heaven  and  life,  [the  free  gift.] 

A  third  comfortable  adjunct  of  this  rest  is,  that  it  is 
the  fellowship  of  tlie  blessed  saints  and  angels  of  God. 
Not  so  singular  will  the  Christian  be,  as  to  be  solitary. 
Though  it  be  proper  to  the  saints  only,  yet  is  it  common 
to  all  the  saints.     For  what  is  it,  but  an  association  of 


43 

blessed  spirits  in  God  ?  A  corporation  of  perfected 
saints,  whereof  Christ  is  the  head  ?  The  communion 
of  saints  completed  ?  For  those  that  have  prayed,  and 
fasted,  and  wept,  and  watched,  and  waited  together ; 
now  to  enjoy,  and  praise  together,  methinks  should 
much  advance  their  pleasure.  He  who  mentioneth  the 
qualifications  of  our  happiness,  of  purpose  that  our  joy 
may  be  full,  and  maketh  so  oft  mention  of  our  conjunc- 
tion in  his  praises,  sure  doth  hereby  intimate  to  us  that 
this  will  be  some  advantage  to  our  joys.  Certain  I  am 
of  this,  fellow  Christians,  that  as  we  have  been  together 
in  labour,  duty,  danger,  and  distress,  so  shall  we  be  in 
the  great  recompense  ;  and  as  we  have  been  scorned  and 
despised,  so  shall  we  be  crowned  and  honoured  together; 
and  we  who  have  gone  through  the  day  of  sadness, 
shall  enjoy  together  that  day  of  gladness.  And  those 
who  have  been  with  us  in  persecution  and  prison,  shall 
be  with  us  also  in  that  place  of  consolation.  When  I 
look  in  the  faces  of  the  people  of  God,  and  believingly 
think  of  this  day,  what  a  refreshing  thought  is  it !  Shall 
we  not  there  remember  our  fellowship  in  duty  and  in 
sufferings  ?  How  oft  our  groans  made,  as  it  were,  one 
sound,  our  tears  but  one  stream,  and  our  desires  but  one 
prayer  ?  And  now  all  our  praises  shall  make  up  one 
melody  ;  and  all  our  Churches  one  Church  ;  and  all  our- 
selves but  one  body  ;  for  we  shall  be  one  in  Christ,  even 
as  he  and  the  Father  are  one.  It  is  true,  we  must  be 
very  careful  that  we  look  not  for  that  in  the  saints 
which  is  alone  in  Christ,  and  that  we  give  them  not  his 
prerogative  ;  nor  expect  too  great  a  part  of  our  comfort 
in  the  fruition  of  them  :  we  are  prone  enough  to  this 
kind  oi  idolatry.  But  yet  He  who  commands  us  so  to 
love  them  now,  Avill  give  us  leave,  in  the  same  subordi- 
nation to  himself,  to  love  them  then,  when  himself  hath 
made  them  much  more  lovely.  And  if  we  may  love 
them,  we  shall  surely  rejoice  in  them  ;  for  love  cannot 
stand  without  an  answerable  joy.  If  the  forethought 
of  sitting  down  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  and  all  the 
prophets  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  may  be  our  lawful  joy  ; 
then  how  much  more  that  real  sight  and  actual  posses- 
sion !  It  cannot  but  he  comfortable  to  me  to  think  of 
that  day  when  I  shall  join  with  Moses  in  his  song,  with 


44  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

David  in  his  psalms  of  praise,  and  with  all  the  redeemed 
in  the  "song  of  the  Lamb  for  ever;"  when- we  shall 
see  Enoch  walking  with  God  ;  Noah  enjoying  the  end 
of  his  singularity  ;  Joseph,  of  his  integrity  ;  Job,  of  his 
patience ;  Hezekiah,  of  his  uprightness  ;  and  all  the 
saints  the  end  of  their  faith.  O  happy  day,  when  I  shall 
depart  out  of  this  crowd,  and  sink  and  go  to  that  same 
council  of  souls  !  I  know  that  Christ  is  all  in  all,  and 
that  it  is  the  presence  of  God  that  maketh  heaven  to  be 
heaven.  But  yet  it  much  sweeteneth  the  thoughts  of 
that  place  to  me,  to  remember  that  there  are  such  a 
multitude  of  my  most  dear  and  precious  friends  in 
Christ :  "  with  whom  I  took  sweet  counsel,  and  with 
whom  I  went  up  to  the  house  of  God,  who  walked  with 
me  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  integrity  of  their  hearts  :" 
in  the  face  of  whose  conversation  there  was  written  the 
name  of  Christ :  whose  sensible  mention  of  his  excel- 
lences hath  made  my  heart  to  burn  within  me.  To 
think  such  a  friend  that  died  at  such  a  time,  and  such  a 
one  at  another  time,  and  that  all  these  are  entered  into 
rest :  and  we  shall  surely  go  to  th(3m.  It  is  a  question 
with  some,  whether  we  shall  know  each  other  in  heaven 
or  not  ?  Surely,  there  shall  no  knowledge  cease  which 
now  we  have ;  but  only  that  which  implieth  our  imper- 
fection. And  what  imperfection  can  this  imply  ?  Nay, 
our  present  knowledge  shall  be  increased  beyond  be- 
lief :  it  shall  indeed  be  done  away,  but  as  the  light  of 
the  stars  is  done  away  by  the  rising  of  the  sun  ;  which 
is  more  properly  doing  away  our  ignorance  than  our 
knowledge.  Indeed,  we  shall  not  know  each  other  after 
the  flesh ;  but  by  the  image  of  Christ,  and  spiritual  rela- 
tion, and  former  faithfulness  in  improving  our  talents, 
beyond  doubt,  we  shall  know  and  be  known.  Nor  is  it 
only  our  old  acquaintance,  but  all  the  saints  of  all  ages, 
whose  faces  in  the  flesh  we  never  saw,  whom  we  shall 
there  both  know  and  comfortably  enjoy.  Yea,  and 
angels  as  well  as  saints  will  be  our  blessed  acquaintance. 
Those  who  now  are  willingly  ministerial  spirits  for  our 
good,  will  willingly  then  be  our  companions  in  joy  for 
the  perfecting  of  our  good  :  and  they  who  had  such  joy 
in  heaven  for  our  conversion,  will  gladly  rejoice  with 
us  in  our  glorification.     I  think.  Christian,  this  will  be 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  45 

a  more  honourable  assembly  than  ever  you  have  beheld ; 
and  a  more  happy  society  than  you  were  ever  of  before. 
Then  we  shall  truly  say  as  David,  "  I  am  a  companion 
of  all  them  that  fear  thee  :  when  we  are  come  to  mount 
Sion,  and  to  the  city  of  the  living  God,  the  heavenly 
Jerusalem,  and  to  an  innumerable  company  of  angels ; 
to  the  general  assembly,  and  Church  of  the  first-born, 
which  are  written  in  heaven,  and  to  God  the  judge  of 
all,  and  to  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  and  to 
Jesus  the  mediator  of  the  new  covenant."  So  then  I 
conclude  this  is  one  singular  excellence  of  the  rest  of 
heaven  :  "  That  we  are  fellow  citizens  with  the  saints, 
and  of  the  household  of  God." 

4.  Another  excellent  property  of  our  rest  will  be, 
that  the  joys  of  it  are  immediately  from  God  :  "  We 
shall  see  God  face  to  face,  and  stand  continually  in  his 
presence  ;  and  consequently  derive  our  life  and  comfort 
immediately  from  him.  Whether  God  will  make  use  of 
any  creatures  for  our  service  then  ;  or  if  any,  of  what 
creatures,  and  what  use,  is  more  than  I  yet  know :  but 
it  is  certain,  that  at  least  our  greatest  joys  will  be  imme- 
diate, if  not  all.  Nov/  vv^e  have  nothing  at  all  immedi- 
ately, but  at  the  second  or  third  hand,  or  how  many  who 
knows  ?  From  the  earth,  from  man,  from  the  sun  and 
moon,  from  the  influence  of  the  planets,  from  the  mi- 
nistration of  angels,  and  from  the  spirit  of  Christ ;  and 
doubtless,  the  farther  the  stream  runs  from  the  fountain, 
the  more  impure  it  is.  It  gathers  some  defilement  from 
every  unclean  channel  it  passeth  through.  Though  it 
savours  not,  in  the  hand  of  angels,  of  the  imperfection 
of  sinners,  yet  it  doth  of  the  imperfection  of  creatures  ; 
and  as  it  comes  from  man,  it  savours  of  both.  How 
quick  and  piercing  is  the  word  in  itself!  Yet  many 
times  it  never  enters,  being  managed  by  a  feeble  arm. 
O  what  weight  and  worth  is  there  in  every  passage  of 
the  blessed  Gospel !  enough,  one  would  think,  to  enter 
and  force  the  dullest  soul,  and  wholly  possess  its 
thoughts  and  affections  :  and  yet  how  oft  doth  it  drop 
as  water  upon  a  stone  ?  The  things  of  God  which  we 
handle  are  Divine :  but  our  manner  of  handling  is 
human  :  and  there  is  little  or  none  that  ever  we  touch, 
but  we  leave  the  print  of  our  fingers  behind  us  ;  but  if 


46  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

God    should   speak  this   word   himself,  it  would  be  a 
piercing,  melting  word  indeed. 

If  an  angel  from  heaven  should  preach  the  Gospel, 
yet  could  he  not  deliver  it  according  to  its  glory  ;  much 
less  we  who  never  saw  what  they  have  seen,  and  keep 
this  treasure  in  earthen  vessels.  The  comforts  that  flow 
through  sermons,  sacraments,  reading,  conference,  and 
creatures,  are  but  half  comforts,  in  comparison  of  those 
which  the  Almighty  shall  speak  with  his  own  mouth, 
and  reach  forth  with  his  own  hand.  The  Christian 
knows  by  experience  now  that  his  most  immediate  joys 
are  his  sweetest  joys  ;  which  have  least  of  man,  and  are 
most  directly  from  the  Spirit.  That  is  one  reason,  I 
conceive,  why  Christians  who  are  much  in  secret  prayer 
and  meditation  are  men  of  greatest  life ;  because  they 
are  nearer  the  well  head,  and  have  all  more  immediately 
from  God  himself.  And  that  I  conceive  the  only  reason 
why  we  are  more  indisposed  to  those  secret  duties,  and 
can  easier  bring  our  hearts  to  hear  and  read,  than  to 
secret  prayer,  self-examination,  and  m.editation  ;  because 
in  the  former  is  more  of  man,  and  in  these  we  approach 
the  Lord  alone,  and  our  natures  draw  back  from  the 
most  spiritual  duties.  Not  that  we  should  therefore  cast 
off  the  other,  and  neglect  any  ordinance  of  God :  to 
live  above  them  while  we  use  them,  is  the  way  of  a 
Christian.  But  to  live  above  ordinances,  so  as  to  live 
without  them,  is  to  live  without  the  government  of 
Christ.  It  is  then  we  shall  have  light  without  a  candle ; 
and  a  perpetual  day  without  the  sun :  "  For  the  city 
hath  no  need  of  the  sun,  neither  the  moon  to  shine  in 
it :  for  the  glory  of  God  doth  lighten  it,  and  the  Lamb 
is  the  light  thereof,"  Rev.  xxi,  23.  Nay,  "  There  shall 
be  no  night  there,  and  they  need  no  candle,  nor  light  of 
the  sun,  for  the  Lord  God  giveth  them  light,  and  they 
shall  reign  for  ever  and  ever."  We  shall  then  have 
rest  without  sleep,  and  be  kept  from  cold  without  our 
clothing,  and  need  no  fig  leaves  to  hide  our  shame  :  for 
God  will  be  our  rest,  and  Christ  our  clothing,  and 
shame  and  sin  will  cease  together.  We  shall  then  have 
health  without  physic,  and  strength  without  the  use  of 
food ;  for  the  Lord  God  will  be  our  strength,  and  the 
light  of  his  countenance  will  be  health  to  our  souls,  and 


47 

marrow  to  our  bones.  We  shall  then  (and  never  till 
then)  have  enlightened  understandings  without  Scripture, 
and  be  governed  without  a  written  law.  For  the  Lord 
will  perfect  his  law  in  our  hearts,  and  we  shall  be  all 
perfectly  taught  of  God  :  his  own  will  shall  be  our  law, 
and  his  own  face  shall  be  our  light  for  ever.  We  shall 
then  have  communion  without  sacraments,  when  Christ 
shall  drink  with  us  of  the  fruit  of  the  vine  new,  that  is, 
refresh  us  with  the  comforting  wine  of  immediate 
fruition  in  the  kingdom  oF  his  Father. 

5.  A  farther  excellence  of  this  rest  is  this  :  it  will  be 
a  suitable  rest, — suited,  1.  To  our  natures.  2.  To  our 
desires.     3.  To  our  necessities. 

1.  To  our  natures.  If  suitableness  concur  not  with 
excellence,  the  best  things  may  be  bad  to  us  ;  for  it  is 
not  that  which  makes  things  good  in  themselves,  to  be 
good  to  us.  In  our  choice  of  friends,  we  often  pass  by 
the  more  excellent,  to  choose  the  more  suitable ;  every 
good  agrees  not  with  every  nature.  The  choicest  dain- 
ties which  we  feed  upon  ourselves  would  be  to  our 
beasts  as  an  un  pleasing,  so  an  insufficient,  sustenance. 

Now  here  is  suitableness  and  excellence  conjoined. 
The  new  nature  of  the  saints  doth  suit  their  spirits  to 
this  rest :  and  indeed  their  holiness  is  nothing  else  but  a 
spark  taken  from  this  element,  and  by  the  spirit  of  Christ 
kindled  in  their  hearts,  the  flame  whereof,  as  mindful  of 
its  Divine  original,  doth  ever  mount  aloft  and  tend  to  the 
place  from  whence  it  comes.  Gold  and  earthly  glory, 
temporal  crowns  and  kingdoms,  could  not  make  a  rest 
for  saints.  As  they  were  not  redeemed  with  so  low  a 
price,  so  neither  are  they  endued  with  so  low  a  nature. 
As  God  will  have  from  them  a  spiritual  worship,  suit- 
able to  his  own  spiritual  being ;  so  will  he  provide  them 
a  spiritual  rest,  suitable  to  his  people's  spiritual  nature. 

A  heaven  of  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  his  Christ ; 
and  a  delightful  complacency  in  that  mutual  love  and 
everlasting  rejoicing  in  the  fruition  of  our  God,  a  perpe- 
tual singing  of  his  high  praises  :  this  is  a  heaven  for  a 
saint ;  a  spiritual  rest,  suitable  to  a  spiritual  nature. 
Then  we  shall  live  in  our  element.  We  are  now  as  the 
fish  in  some  small  vessel  of  water,  that  hath  only  so 
much  as  will  keep  him  alive  :  but  what  is  that  to  the  full 


48  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

ocean  ?  We  have  a  little  air  let  into  us  to  afford  us 
breathing  :  but  what  is  that  to  the  sweet  and  fresh  gales 
upon  mount  Sion  ?  We  have  a  beam  of  the  sun  to  lighten 
our  darkness,  and  a  warm  ray  to  keep  us  from  freezing: 
but  then  we  shall  live  in  its  light,  and  be  revived  by  its 
heat  for  ever. 

2.  It  is  suitable  to  the  desires  of  the  saints  :  for  such 
as  is  their  nature,  such  are  their  desires ;  and  such  as 
their  desires,  such  will  be  their  rest.  Indeed  we  have 
now  a  mixed  nature  :  and  from  contrary  principles  arise 
contrary  desires.  But  it  is  the  desires  of  our  renewed 
nature  which  this  rest  is  suited  to.  While  our  desires 
remain  corrupt  and  misguided,  it  is- a  far  greater  mercy 
to  deny,  yea,  to  destroy  them,  than  to  satisfy  them  :  but 
those  which  are  spiritual  are  of  his  own  planting,  and  he 
v/ill  surely  water  them,  and  give  the  increase.  He 
quickened  our  hunger  and  thirst  for  righteousness,  that 
he  might  make  us  happy  in  a  full  satisfaction. 

Christian,  this  is  a  rest  after  thy  own  heart.  It  con- 
taineth  all  that  thy  heart  can  wish,  that  which  thou  long- 
est for,  prayest  for,  labourest  for,  there  thou  shalt  find 
it  all.  Thou  hadst  rather  have  God  in  Christ,  than  all 
the  world :  why  there  thou  shalt  have  him.  Desire 
what  thou  canst,  and  ask  what  thou  wilt,  as  a  Christian, 
and  it  shall  be  given  thee  ;  not  only  to  half  of  the  king- 
dom, but  to  the  enjoyment  of  both  kingdom  and  king. 
This  is  a  life  of  desire  and  prayer ;  but  that  is  a  life  of 
satisfaction  and  enjoyment. 

3.  This  rest  is  suitable  to  the  saints'  necessities  also, 
as  well  as  to  their  natures  and  desires.  It  contains 
whatsoever  they  truly  wanted  ;  not  supplying  them  with 
gross  created  comforts,  which,  like  Saul's  armour  on 
David,  are  more  burden  than  benefit  :  but  they  shall 
there  have  the  benefit  without  the  burden  ;  and  the  pure 
spirits  extracted  (as  it  were)  shall  make  up  their  cordial, 
without  the  mixture  of  any  drossy  or  earthly  substance. 
It  v^-as  Christ  and  perfect  holiness  which  they  most 
needed,  and  with  these  shall  they  be  supplied. 

4.  Another  excellence  of  our  rest  will  be  this,  that  it 
will  be  absolutely  perfect  and  complete  ;  and  this  both 
in  the  sincerity  and  universality  of  it.  We  shall  then 
have  joy  without  sorrow,  and  rest  without  weariness : 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  49 

as  there  is  mo  mixture  of  our  corruption  with  our  graces, 
so  MO  mixture  of  sufferings  with  our  solace :  there  are 
jionc  of  these  waves  in  that  harbour  which  now  toss  us 
u])  anil  down.  To-day  we  are  well,  to-morrow  sick  : 
to-day  ill  esteem,  to-morrow  in  disgrace  :  to-day  we 
Juive  friends,  to-morrow  none:  nay,  we  have  wine  and 
vinegar  in  the  same  cup.  If  revelation  should  raise  us 
up  to  tlic  third  heaven,  the  messenger  of  Satan  must 
j)resently  bullet  us  :  but  there  is  none  of  this  inconstancy 
in  lieaven.  if  perfect  love  cast  out  fear,  then  perfect 
joy  must  needs  cast  out  sorrow,  and  perfect  happiness 
exclude  all  the  relics  of  misery.  There  will  be  a  uni- 
versal ])crfecting  of  all  our  parts  and  powers,  and  a 
universal  removal  of  all  our  evils.  And  though  the  po- 
sitive part  be  the  sweetest,  and  that  which  draws  the 
other  after  it,  even  as  the  rising  of  the  sun  excludes  the 
darkness  ;  yet  is  ^not  the  negative  part  to  be  slighted, 
even  our  freedom  from  so  many  and  great  calamities. 
Let  us  therefore  look  over  these  more  punctually,  and  see 
what  it  is  we  shall  there  rest  from.  In  general,  it  is  from 
all  evil.  Particularly, ^r^^^,  from  sin ;  secondly^  suffering. 
First.  It  excludeth  nothing  more  directly  than  sin  ; 
whether  original,  and  of  nature  ;  or  actual,  and  of  con- 
versation ;  for  "there  enteieth  notliing  that  defileth, 
nor  that  worketh  abomination,  nor  that  maketh  a  lie." 
What  need  Christ  have  died,  if  heaven  could  have  con- 
tained imperfect  souls  ?  For  "  to  this  end  came  lie  into 
the  world,  that  he  might  put  away  the  Avorks  of  the 
devil."  His  blood  and  Spirit  have  not  done  all  this,  to 
leave  us,  after  all,  defiled  :  "  For  what  communion  hath 
light  with  darkness  ?  And  what  fellowship  hath  Christ 
with  Belial?"  He  that  hath  prepared  for  sin  the  tor- 
ments of  hell,  will  never  admit  it  into  the  blessedness  of 
heaven.  Therefore,  Christian,  never  fear  this  :  if  thou 
be  once  in  heaven,  thou  shalt  sin  no  more.  Is  not  this 
glad  news  to  thee,  who  hast  prayed,  and  watched,  and 
laboured  against  it  so  long  ?  I  know  if  it  ^vere  offered 
to  thy  choice,  thou  wouldst  rather  choose  to  be  freed 
from  sin,  than  to  be  made  heir  of  the  world.  Thou 
shalt  have  thy  desire :  that  hard  heart,  those  vile 
thoughts,  which  thou  couldst  no  more  leave  behind  thee 
than  leave  thyself  behind  thee,  shall  be  now  left  behind 
3 


50  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

for  ever.  If  they  accompany  thee  to  death,  they  cannot 
proceed  a  step  farther.  Thy  understanding  shall  never 
more  be  troubled  with  darkness  :  ignorance  and  error 
are  inconsistent  with  this  light.  Now  thouwalkest  like 
a  m  n  in  the  twilight,  ever  afraid  of  being  out  of  the 
way :  but  then  will  all  darkness  be  dispelled,  and  our 
blind  understandings  fully  opened. 

O  what  would  we  give  to  know  clearly  all  the  pro- 
found mysteries  in  the  doctrine  of  redemption,  of  justi- 
fication, of  the  nature  of  grace,  of  the  Divine  attributes  ! 
What  would  we  give  to  see  all  dark  scriptures  made^ 
plain ;  to  see  all  seeming  contradictions  reconciled  ! 
Why,  when  glory  hath  taken  away  the  veil  from  our 
eyes,  all  this  will  be  known  in  a  moment ;  we  shall  then 
see  clearl}'  into  all  the  controversies  about  doctrine  or 
discipline  that  now  perplex  us.  The  poorest  Christian 
is  presently  there  a  more  perfect  divine  than  any  is  here. 
We  are  now,  through  our  ignorance,  subject  to  such 
mutability,  that  in  points  not  fundamental  we  change  as 
the  moon  :  but  when  once  our  ignorance  is  perfectly 
healed,  then  shall  we  be  settled,  resolved  men  ;  then  shall 
our  reproach  be  taken  from  us,  and  we  shall  never 
change  our  judgment  more.  Our  ignorance  now  doth 
lead  us  into  error,  to  the  grief  of  our  more  knowing 
brethren,  to  the  disturbing  the  Church's  quiet,  to  the 
scandalizing  of  others,  and  weakening  ourselves.  How 
m.any  a  faithful  soul  is  seduced  into  error  !  Loath  they 
are  to  err,  God  knows  ;  and  therefore  read  and  pray, 
and  yet  err  still.  And  in  lesser  and  more  difficult 
points  how  can  it  be  otherwise  ? 

Can  it  be  expected  that  men  void  of  learning  and 
strength  of  parts,  unstudied  and  untaught,  should  at  the 
first  onset  know  those  truths  which  they  are  almost  in- 
capable of  knowing  at  all,  when  the  greatest  divines  of 
clearest  judgment  acknowledge  so  much  difficulty  that 
they  could  almost  find  in  their  hearts  someiimes  to  pro- 
fess them  quite  beyond  their  reach  ?  But  O  that  happy 
approaching  day,  when  error  shall  vanish  away  for  ever, 
when  our  understanding  shall  be  filled  with  God  him- 
self, whose  light  will  leave  no  darkness  in  us  !  His  face 
shall  be  the  Scripture,  where  we  shall  read  the  truth : 
and  himself,  instead  of  teachers  and  counsellors,  to  per- 


THE  .saints'   everlasting  REST.  51 

feet  our  understandings,  and  acquaint  us  with  himself. 
No  more  error,  no  more  scandal  to  others,  no  more  dis- 
quiet to  our  own  spirits,  no  more  mistaken  zeal  for  false- 
hood. Many  a  good  man  hath  here  in  his  mistaken  zeal 
been  a  means  to  deceive  and  pervert  his  brethren  ;  and, 
when  he  sees  his  own  error,  cannot  again  tell  how  to 
undeceive  them  ;  but  there  we  shall  all  conspire  in  one 
truth,  as  being  one  in  Him  who  is  the  truth. 

And  as  we  shall  rest  from  all  the  sin  of  our  under- 
standing, so  of  our  wills,  affections,  and  conversation. 
We  shall  no  more  retain  this  rebelling  principle,  which 
is  still  withdra\ving  us  from  God.  We  shall  no  more 
be  oppressed  with  the  power  of  our  corruptions,  nor 
vexed  with  their  presence  :  no  pride,  passion,  slothful- 
ness,  senselessness,  shall  enter  with. us  ;  no  strangeness 
to  God,  and  things  of  God  ;  no  coldness  of  affections, 
nor  imperfections  in  our  love  ;  no  uneven  walking,  nor 
grieving  of  the  Spirit ;  no  scandalous  action,  or  luiholy 
conversation  :  we  shall  rest  from  all  these  for  ever. 
Then  shall  our  understandings  receive  their  light  from 
the  face  of  God,  as  the  full  moon  from  the  open  sun : 
then  shall  our  wills  correspond  to  the  Divine  will,  as 
face  answers  face  in  the  glass;  and  his  will  shall  be 
our  law  and  rule,  from  which  we  shall  never  swerve 
again.  I  conclude,  therefore,  with  the  words  next  my 
^text,  "He  that  is  entered  into  his  rest,  has  ceased  from 
his  own  works,  as  God  from  his."  So  that  there  is  a 
perfect  rest  from  sin. 

Secondly.  It  is  a  perfect  rest  from  suffering.  When 
the  cause  is  gone,  the  effect  ceaseth.  Our  sufferings 
were  but  the  consequents  of  our  sinning,  and  here  they 
shall  cease  together. 

1.  We  shall  rest  from  all  the  temptations  of  Satan. 
What  a  grief  is  it  to  a  Christian,  though  he  yield  not  to 
the  temptation,  yet  to  be  still  soHcited  to. deny  his  Lord? 
That  such  a  thought  should  be  cast  into  his  heart  ?  That 
he  can  set  about  nothing  that  is  good,  but  Satan  is  still 
dissuading  him  from  it,  distracting  him  in  it,  or  discou- 
raging him  after  it?  What  a  torment,  as  well  as  a 
temptation  is  it,  to  have  such  horrid  motions  made  to 
his  soul  ?  Sometime  cruel  thoughts  of  God  ;  sometime 
undervaluing  thoughts  of  Christ;  sometime  unbelieving 


52  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

thoughts  of  Scripture  ;  sometune  injurious  thoughts  of 
Providence  ;  to  be  tempted  sometime  to  turn  to  pre- 
sent things  ;  sometime  to  play  with  the  baits  of  sin  ; 
sometime  to  venture  on  the  delights  of  the  flesh; 
and  sometime  to  Atheism  itself!  especially  when  we 
know  the  treachery  of  our  own  hearts,  that  they  are  as 
tinder,  ready  to  take  fire  as  soon  as  one  of  these  sparks 
shall  fall  upon  them  ;  but  w^hen  the  day  of  our  deliver- 
ance comes,  we  shall  fully  lest  from  these  temptations. 
Satan  is  then  bound  up,  the  time  of  tempting  is 
done  ;  the  time  of  torment  to  himself,  and  his  conquered 
captives,  is  then  come ;  and  the  victorious  saints  shall 
have  triumph  from  temptation.  Noav  we  walk  among 
his  snares,  and  are  in  danger  to  be  circumvented  with 
his  wiles  :  but  then  we  are  quite  above  his  snares.  He 
hath  poAver  here  to  tempt  us  in  the  wilderness,  but  he 
entereth  not  the  holy  city ;  he  may  set  us  on  the  pinna- 
cle of  the  temple  in  the  earthly  Jerusalem,  but  the  New 
Jerusalem  he  may  not  approach.  Perhaps  he  may  bring 
us  to  an  exceeding  high  mountain  ;  but  the  mount  Sion, 
and  city  of  the  living  God,  he  cannot  ascend.  Or  if  he 
should,  yet  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  and  the  glory 
of  them,  would  be  but  a  poor  bait  to  the  soul  which  is 
possessed  of  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord. 

2.  We  shall  rest  from  all  our  temptations  which  v/e  now 
undergo  from  the  Avorld  and  the  flesh,  as  well  as  Satan: 
and  that  is  a  number  inexpressible.  O  the  hourly  dangers 
that  we  here  walk  in  !  Every  sense  is  a  snare  ;  every 
member  a  snare  ;  every  creature  a  snare  ;  every  mercy 
a  snare ;  and  every  duty  a  snare  to  us.  We  can  scarce 
open  our  eyes  but  we  are  in  danger  :  if  we  behold  them 
above  us,  we  are  in  danger  of  envy  :  if  we  see  sumptuous 
buildings,  pleasant  habitations,  honour,  and  riches,  we 
are  in  danger  to  be  drawn  away  with  covetous  desires  : 
if  the  rags  and  beggary  of  others,  we  are  in  danger  of 
self-applauding  thoughts,  or  unmercifulness  :  if  we  see 
beauty,  it  is  a  bait  to  lust ;  if  deformity,  to  loathing  and 
disdain.  We  can  scarcely  hear  a  word  spoken,  but  con- 
tains to  us  matter  of  temptation.  How  soon  do  slander- 
ous reports,  vain  jests,  or  wanton  speeches,  creep  into 
the  heart  ?  How  strong  and  prevalent  a  temptation  is 
our  appetite  ?     And  how  constant  and  strong  a  watch 


EVERLASTING    REST.  53 

(loth  it  require?  Have  we  comeliness  and  beauty? 
wliat  fuel  for  pride  !  Are  we  deformed?  what  an  occa- 
sion of  repining  !  Have  we  strength  of  reason  and 
learning  ?  O  how  hard  is  it  not  to  be  puffed  up !  to  hunt 
after  applause  !  to  despise  our  brethren  !  Are  we  un- 
learned, of  shallow  heads,  and  slender  parts  ?  how  apt 
then  to  despise  what  we  have  not !  and  to  undervalue 
that  which  we  do  not  know  !  and  to  err  with  confidence 
because  of  our  ignorance !  and  if  conceitedness  and 
pride  do  but  strike  in,  to  become  a  zealous  enemy  to 
truth,  and  a  leading  troubler  of  the  Church's  peace,  un- 
der pretences  of  truth !  Are  we  men  of  eminence  and 
authority  ?  how  strong  is  our  temptation  to  slight  our 
brethren !  to  abuse  our  trust !  to  seek  ourselves  !  to 
stand  upon  our  honour  and  privileges  !  to  forget  our- 
selves, our  poor  brethren,  and  the  public  good  !  how 
hard  to  devote  our  power  to  His  glory,  from  whom  we 
have  received  it !  how  prone  to  make  our  wills  our  law  ! 
Are  we  inferiors  ?  how  prone  to  grudge  at  others'  pre- 
eminence !  and  to  bring  their  actions  to  the  bar  of  our 
judgment !  Are  we  rich,  and  not  too  much  exalted  ? 
Are  we  poor,  and  not  discontented  ?  Do  we  set  upon 
duties  ?  they  are  snares  too  :  either  we  are  stupid  and 
lazy,  or  rest  in  them,  and  turn  from  Christ.  In  a  word, 
not  one  word  that  falls  from  the  mouth  of  a  minister  or 
Christian,  but  is  a  snare  ;  nor  a  place  we  come  into  : 
not  a  word  that  our  tongues  speak,  not  any  mercy  we 
possess,  not  a  bit  we  put  into  our  mouths,  but  they  are 
snares  ;  not  that  God  hath  made  them  so,  but  through 
our  own  corruption  they  become  so  to  us.  So  that  what 
a  sad  case  are  we  in  !  especially  they  that  discern  them 
not !  for  it  is  almost  impossible  they  should  escape 
them.  It  was  not  for  nothing  that  our  Lord  cried  out, 
"What  I  say  to  one,  I  say  to  all.  Watch."  We  are  like 
the  lepers  at  Samaria,  "  If  we  go  into  the  city,  there  is 
nothing  but  famine  ;  if  we  sit  still,  we  perish." 

But  for  ever  blessed  be  omnipotent  Love,  which  saves 
us  out  of  all  these,  and  makes  our  straits  but  the  advan- 
tages of  the  glory  of  his  grace  !  And  "  blessed  be  the 
Lord  who  hath  not  given  our  souls  for  a  prey  :  our  soul 
is  escaped  as  a  bird  out  of  the  snare  of  the  fowler ;  the 
snare   is   broken,   and   we   are   escaped."      Now,   our 


54  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

houses,  our  clothes,  our  sleep,  our  food,  our  physic,  our 
father,  mother,  wife,  children,  friends,  goods,  lands,  are 
all  so  many  temptations ;  and  ourselves  the  greatest 
snare  to  ourselves  :  but  in  heaven,  the  danger  and  trou- 
ble is  over  :  there  is  nothing  but  what  will  advance  our 
joy.  Now  every  companion  is  beckoning  us  to  sin,  and 
we  can  scarce  tell  how  to  say  to  them.  Nay  ;  but  our 
rest  will  free  us  from  all  these.  As  Satan  hath  no  en- 
trance there,  so  neither  any  thing  to  serve  his  malice : 
but  all  things  there  with  us  conspire  the  praises  of  our 
great  Deliverer. 

3.  And  as  we  rest  from  temptations,  so  also  from  all 
abuses  and  persecutions  which  we  suffer  at  the  hands  of 
wicked  men.  We  shall  be  scorned,  derided,  imprisoned, 
banished  by  them  no  more.  The  prayers  of  the  souls 
under  the  altar  will  then  be  answered,  and  God  '*  will 
avenge  their  blood  on  those  that  dwell  on  the  earth." 
This  is  the  time  for  crowning  with  thorns,  buffeting, 
spitting  on  :  that  is  the  time  for  crowning  with  glory. 
Now  the  law  is  decreed  on,  "  That  whosoever  will  live 
godly  in  Christ  Jesus  shall  suffer  persecutions :  then 
they  that  suffered  with  him  shall  be  glorified  with  him." 
Now  we  must  be  "  hated  of  all  men  for  Christ's  name- 
sake :"  then  "  will  Christ  be  admired  in  his  saints"  that 
were  thus  hated.  We  are  here  as  the  scorn  and  off- 
scouring  of  all  things  ;  as  men  set  up  for  a  gazing  stock 
to  angels  and  men,  even  for  signs  and  wonders  among 
professing  Christians ;  they  put  us  out  of  their  syna- 
gogues, and  cast  our  name  out  as  evil,  and  separate  us 
from  their  company  :  but  we  shall  then  be  as  much  gazed 
at  for  our  glory,  and  they  will  be  shut  out  of  the  Church 
of  the  saints,  and  separated  from  us,  whether  they  will 
or  not.  They  now  "  think  it  strange  that  we  run  not 
with  them  to  all  excess  of  riot :"  they  will  then  think 
more  strange  that  they  ran  not  with  us  in  the  despised 
ways  of  God.  We  can  now  scarce  pray  in  our  families, 
or  sing  praise  to  God,  but  our  voice  is  a  vexation  to 
them  :  how  must  it  torment  them  then,  to  see  us  praising 
and  rejoicing,  while  they  are  howling  and  lamenting  ? 

Brethren,  you  that  now  can  attempt  no  work  of  God 
without  resistance,  and  find  you  must  either  lose  the 
love  of  the  world,  and  your  outward  comforts,  or  else 


THE   saints'   everlasting    REST.  55 

the  love  of  God,  and  your  eternal  salvation,  consider 
you  shall  in  heaven  have  no  discouraging  company,  nor 
any  but  those  who  will  farther  your  work,  and  gladly 
join  heart  and  voice  with  you  in  your  everlasting  joy 
and  praise.  Till  then  "  possess  your  souls  in  patience  :" 
bind  all  reproaches  as  a  crown  to  your  heads :  esteem 
them  greater  riches  than  the  world's  treasure  :  "  account 
it  matter  of  joy  when  ye  fall  into  tribulation."  You 
have  seen  that  our  God  is  able  to  deliver  us  ;  but  this  is 
nothing  to  our  final  deliverance  :  "  he  will  recompense 
tribulation  to  them  that  trouble  you  ;  and  to  you  that  are 
troubled,  rest  with  Christ." 

4.  We  shall  then  also  rest  from  all  our  sad  divisions 
and  unchristian  quarrels  with  one  another.  As  he  said 
who  saw  the  carcasses  lie  together,  as  if  they  had  em- 
braced each  other,  who  had  been  slain  by  each  other  in 
a  duel,  "  How  lovingly  do  they  embrace  one  another, 
who  perished  through  their  mutual  enmity !"  so,  how 
lovingly  do  thousands  live  together  in  heaven  who  lived 
in  divisions  on  earth!  As  he  said  who  beheld  how 
quietly  and  peaceably  the  bones  and  dust  of  mortal  ene- 
mies did  lie  together,  "You  did  not  live  together  so 
peaceably  ;"  so  we  may  say  of  multitudes  in  heaven  now 
all  of  one  mind,  one  heart,  and  one  employment,  you 
lived  not  on  earth  in  so  sweet  familiarity.  There  is  no 
contention,  because  none  of  this  pride,  ignorance,  or 
other  corruption  :  Paul  and  Barnabas  are  now  fully  re- 
conciled. There  they  are  not  every  man  conceited  of 
his  own  understanding,  and  in  love  with  the  issue  of  his 
own  brain  ;  but  all  admiring  the  Divine  perfection,  and 
in  love  with  God  and  one  another.  As  old  Gryneus 
wrote  to  his  friend,  "  If  I  see  you  no  more  on  earth,  yet 
we  shall  there  meet,  where  Luther  and  Zuinglius  are 
now  well  agreed."  There  is  no  recording  our  breth- 
ren's infirmities  ;  nor  raking  into  the  sores  which  Christ 
died  to  heal.  There  is  no  plotting  to  strengthen  our 
party  ;  nor  deep  designing  against  our  brethren. 

And  is  it  not  a  shame  and  pity  that  our  course  is  now 
so  contrary  ?  Surely,  if  there  be  sorrow  or  shame  in 
heaven,  we  shall  then  be  both  sorry  and  ashamed  to  look 
one  another  in  the  face :  and  to  remember  all  this  car- 
riage on  earth,  even  as  the  brethren  of  Joseph  were  to 


56  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

behold  him  when  they  remembered  their  former  unkind 
usage.  Is  it  not  enough  that  all  the  world  is  against  us, 
but  we  must  also  be  against  ourselves  ?  Did  I  ever 
think  to  have  heard  Christians  so  to  reproach  and  scorn 
Christians  ?  and  men,  professing  the  fear  of  God,  to 
make  so  little  conscience  of  censuring,  vilifying,  and 
disgracing  one  another  ?  O  what  hellish  things  are  igno- 
rance and  pride,  that  can  bring  men's  souls  to  such  a 
case  as  this  !  Paul  knew  what  he  said  when  he  com- 
manded that  "a  novice  should  not  be  a  teacher,  lest 
being  lifted  up  he  fall  into  the  condemnation  of  the  de- 
vil," 1  Tim.  iii,  6.  He  discerned  that  such  young  Chris- 
tians that  have  got  but  a  little  smattering  knowledge  in 
religion  lie  in  greatest  danger  of  this  pride  and  condemn- 
ation. Who  but  Paul  could  have  foreseen  that  among 
the  very  teachers  and  governors  of  so  choice  a  Church 
as  Ephesus,  there  were  some  that  afterward  should  be 
notorious  sect  masters  ?  "  That  of  their  own  selves  men 
should  arise,  speaking  perverse  things,  to  draw  away 
disciples  after  them  ?"  Acts  xx,  30.  Who  then  can  ex- 
pect better  from  any  society  now,  how  knowing  and  holy 
soever  ?  To-day  tliey  may  be  unanimous,  and  joined  in 
love  :  and  perhaps  within  a  few  weeks  be  divided,  and 
at  bitter  enmity,  through  their  doating  on  questions  that 
tend  not  to  edify. 

5.  We  shall  then  rest  from  all  which  we  now  undergo, 
by  participating  with  our  brethren  in  their  calamities. 
Alas,  if  we  had  nothing  upon  ourselves  to  trouble  us, 
yet  what  heart  could  lay  aside  sorrows  that  lives  in  the 
sound  of  the  Church's  sufferings?  If  Job  had  nothing 
upon  his  body  to  disquiet  him,  yet  the  message  of  his 
children's  overthrow  must  needs  grieve  the  most  patient 
soul.  Except  we  are  turned  into  steel  or  stone,  and 
have  lost  both  Christian  and  human  affection,  there 
needs  no  more  than  the  miseries  of  our  brethren  to  fill 
our  hearts  with  sorrows.  The  Church  on  earth  is  a 
mere  hospital ;  which  way  soever  we  go,  we  hear  com- 
plaining ;  and  into  what  corner  soever  we  cast  our  eyes, 
we  behold  objects  of  pity  :  some  groaning  under  a  dark 
vmderstanding,  some  under  a  senseless  heart,  some  lan- 
guishing under  unfruitful  weakness,  and  some  bleeding 
for  miscarriages  and  wilfulness,  and  some  in  a  lethargy, 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  57 

that  they  are  past  complaining  ;  some  crying  out  of  their 
pining  poverty,  some  groaning  under  pains  and  infirm- 
ities, and  some  bewailing  a  whole  catalogue  of  calami- 
ties, especially  in  days  of  common  sufferings :  but  our 
day  of  rest  will  free  us  and  them  from  all  this.  Now 
we  may  enter  many  a  poor  Christian's  cottage,  and  see 
poverty  possessing  and  filling  all :  how  much  better  is 
that  day  when  we  shall  see  them  filled  with  Christ, 
clothed  with  glory,  and  equal  with  the  greatest  princes  ? 

But  a  far  greater  grief  it  is  to  our  spirits  to  see  the 
spiritual  miseries  of  our  brethren ;  to  see  such  a  one, 
with  whom  we  took  sweet  counsel,  now  falling  off  to 
sensuality,  turned  drunkard,  worldling,  or  a  persecutor, 
and  these  trying  times  have  given  us  too  large  occasion 
for  such  sorrows  !  To  see  our  dearest  friends  turned 
aside  from  the  truth  of  Christ,  and  confident  in  the  flesh, 
continue  their  neglect  of  Christ  and  their  souls,  and 
nothing  waking  them  out  of  their  security;  and  to  think 
how  certainly  they  shall  be  in  hell  for  ever,  if  they  die 
in  their  present  state  :  and  will  it  not  be  a  blessed  day, 
when  we  shall  rest  from  all  these  sorrows  ?  "  When 
the  people  shall  be  all  righteous,  even  the  work  of  God's 
hands,  the  branch  of  his  planting,  that  he  may  be  glo- 
rified ?"  Thus  shall  we  rest  from  our  participation  of 
our  brethren's  sufferings. 

6.  We  shall  rest  from  all  our  personal  sufferings. 
And  though  this  may  seem  a  small  thing  to  those  that 
live  in  continual  ease,  and  abound  in  all  kind  of  pros- 
perity ;  yet  methinks  to  the  daily  afflicted  soul  it  should 
make  the  forethoughts  of  heaven  delightful :  and  I  think 
I  shall  meet  with  few  of  the  saints,  but  will  say  that 
this  is  their  own  case. 

Though  we  are  reconciled  by  the  blood  of  the  cove- 
nant, and  the  price  is  paid  for  our  full  deliverance,  yet 
our  Redeemer  sees  fit  to  leave  this  measure  of  misery 
upon  us,  to  mind  us  of  what  we  would  else  forget ;  to 
be  serviceable  to  his  wise  and  gracious  designs,  and 
advantageous  to  our  full  and  final  recovery.  As  all  our 
senses  are  the  inlets  of  sin,  so  they  are  the  inlets  of 
sorrow.  Grief  creeps  in  at  our  eyes,  at  our  ears,  and 
almost  everywhere:  it  seizeth  upon  our  heads,  our 
hearts,  our  flesh,  our  spirits  ;  and  what  part  dolh  escape 
3* 


58  THE   saints'   everlasting   REST. 

it?  Fears  devour  us,  and  darken  our  delights,  as  the 
frost  nips  the  buds  :  cares  feed  upon  our  spirits,  as  the 
scorching  sun  doth  wither  the  delicate  flowers.  Or,  if 
any  hath  fortified  his  inwards  against  these,  yet  he  is 
naked  still  without. 

What  tender  pieces  are  these  dusty  bodies  ?  What 
brittle  glasses  do  we  bear  about  us  ?  And  how  many 
thousand  dangers  are  they  hurried  through  ?  And  how 
hardly  cured  if  once  cracked?  O  the  multitude  of 
slender  veins,  of  tender  membranes,  nerves,  fibres, 
muscles,  arteries  ;  and  all  subject  to  obstructions,  ten- 
sions, contractions,  resolutions,  ruptures,  or  one  thing 
or  other  to  cause  their  grief!  Every  one  is  a  fit  subject 
for  pain,  and  fit  to  communicate  that  pain  to  the  whole  : 
but  sin,  and  flesh,  and  dust,  and  pain,  will  all  be  left 
behind  together. 

O  the  blessed  tranquillity  of  that  region,  where  there 
is  nothing  but  sweet  continued  peace  !  No  succession 
of  joy  there,  because  no  intermission.  Our  lives  will 
be  but  one  joy,  as  our  time  will  be  changed  into  one 
eternity.  O  healthful  place,  where  none  are  sick ! 
O  fortunate  land,  where  all  are  kings  !  O  place  most 
holy,  where  all  are  priests  !  How  free  a  state  where 
none  are  servants,  save  to  their  supreme  monarch ! 
Our  face  shall  no  more  be  pale  or  sad  :  our  groans  and 
sighs  will  be  done  away,  and  God  "  shall  wipe  away  all 
tears  from  our  eyes."  No  more  parting  of  friends,  nor 
voice  of  lamentation  heard  in  our  dwellings  ;  no  more 
breaches  nor  disproportion  in  our  friendship,  nor  any 
trouble  accompanying  our  relations  :  nq  more  care  of 
masters  for  servants,  or  parents  for  children,  or  magis- 
trates over  subjects,  or  ministers  over  people.  O  what 
room  can  there  be  for  any  evil,  where  the  whole  is  per- 
fectly filled  with  God  !  "  Then  shall  the  ransomed  of 
the  Lord  return  and  come  to  Sion  with  songs,  and  ever- 
lasting joy  upon  their  heads.  They  shall  obtain  joy  and 
gladness,  and  sorrow  and  sighing  shall  flee  away," 
Isaiah  XXXV,  10.  Hold  out  then  a  little  longer,  O  my 
soul ;  bear  with  the  infirmities  of  thine  earthly  taber- 
nacle ;  endure  that  share  of  sorrows  that  the  love  of  thy 
Father  shall  impose  ;  submit  to  his  indignation  also, 
because  thou  hast  sinned  against  him ;  it  will  be  thus 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  59 

but  a  little  while  ;  the  sound  of  thy  Redeemer's  feet  is 
even  at  the  door  ;  and  thine  own  deliverance  nearer 
than  many  others.  And  thou,  who  hast  often  cried  in 
the  language  of  the  divine  poet, 

"  Sorrow  was  all  my  soul ;  I  scarce  believed, 
Till  grief  did  tell  me  roundly  that  I  lived ;" 

shalt  then  feel  that  God  and  joy  is  all  thy  soul ;  the 
fruition  of  whom,  with  thy  freedom  from  all  these  sor- 
rows, will  more  sweetly  and  more  feelingly  make  thee 
know,  and  to  his  eternal  praise  acknowledge  that  thou 
livest.     And  thus  we  shall  rest  from  all  afflictions. 

The  last  blessed  attribute  of  this  rest  is,  that  it  is  an 
eternal  rest.  This  is  the  crown  of  our  crown  ;  without 
which  all  were  comparatively  nothing.  The  very 
thougiht  of  leaving  it  would  embitter  all  our  joys  ;  and 
the  more,  because  of  the  singular  excellences  we  must 
forsake.  It  would  be  a  hell  in  heaven  to  think  of  once 
losing  heaven  ;  as  it  would  be  a  kind  of  heaven  to  the 
damned,  had  they  but  hopes  of  once  escaping. 

It  makes  our  present  life  of  little  value,  (were  it  not 
for  the  reference  it  hath  to  eternity,)  to  think  that  we 
must  shortly  lay  it  down.  How  can  we  take  delight  in 
any  thing,  when  Ave  remember  how  short  that  delight 
will  be  ?  But,  O  blessed  eternity  !  where  our  lives  are 
perplexed  with  no  such  thoughts,  nor  our  joys  inter- 
rupted with  any  such  fears  !  O  what  do  I  say  when  I 
talk  of  eternity  1  Can  my  shallow  thoughts  conceive 
it  ?  To  be  eternally  blessed,  and  so  blessed  !  Surely 
this,  if  any  thing,  is  the  resemblance  of  God  ;  eternity 
as  a  piece  of  inliniteness.  Then,  "  O  death,  where  is 
thy  sting  ?  O  grave,  where  is  thy  victory  ?"  Days, 
and  nights,  and  years,  time,  and  end,  and  death,  are 
words  which  there  have  no  signification  ;  nor  are  used, 
except  perhaps  to  extol  eternity  ;  as  the  mention  of 
hell,  to  extol  heaven.  All  the  years  of  our  Lord,  and 
the  years  of  our  life,  are  swallowed  up  and  lost  in  this 
eternity. 

While  we  Avere  servants  we  held  by  lease  ;  and  that 
but  for  the  term  of  transitory  life  : — "  But  the  son 
abideth  in  the  house  for  ever."  Our  earthly  paradise  in 
Eden  had  a  way  out,  but  none  that  ever  we  could  jfind 


60  THE   saints'   everlasting   REST. 

in  again  :  but  this  eternal  paradise  hath  a  way  in,  (a 
milky  way  to  us,  but  a  bloody  way  to  Christ,)  but  no 
way  out  again  :  "  For  they  that  would  pass  from  hence 
to  you,"  saith  Abraham,  "  cannot :"  a  strange  phrase  ! 
Would  any  pass  from  such  a  place,  if  they  might? 
Could  they  endure  to  be  absent  from  God  again  one 
hour  ?  No  :  but  upon  supposal  they  would,  yet  they 
could  not.  O  then,  my  soul,  let  go  thy  dreams  of 
present  pleasures  ;  and  loose  thy  hold  of  earth  and 
flesh.  Fear  not  to  enter  that  estate  where  thou  shalt 
ever  after  cease  thy  fears.  Sit  down,  and  sadly  once 
a  day  bethink  thyself  of  this  eternity.  Among  all  the 
arithmetical  numbers,  study  the  value  of  this  infinite 
cipher,  which,  though  it  stand  for  nothing  in  the  vulgar 
account,  doth  yet  contain  all  our  millions,  as  much  less 
than  a  simple  unit.  Lay  by  the  perplexed  and  con- 
tradicting chronological  tables,  and  fix  thine  eye  on 
this  eternity  ;  and  the  lines  which  remote  thou  couldst 
not  follow,  thou  shalt  see  altogether  here  concentred. 
Study  less  these  tedious  volumes  of  history,  which  con- 
tain but  the  silent  narration  of  dreams,  and  are  but  the 
pictures  of  the  actions  of  shadows  :  and  instead  of  all, 
study  frequently,  study  thoroughly,  this  one  word 
[eternity,]  and  when  thou  hast  thoroughly  learned  that 
one  word,  thou  wilt  never  look  on  books  again.  What ! 
live  and  never  die!  Rejoice,  and  ever  rejoice!  O 
what  sweet  words  are  these  !  This  word  [everlasting] 
contains  the  accomplished  perfection  of  our  glory.  O 
that  the  wicked  sinner  would  but  soundly  study  this 
word  [everlastiiig ;]  methinks  it  would  startle  him  out 
of  his  deep  sleep  !  O  that  the  gracious  soul  would 
believingly  study  this  word  [everlasting;]  methinks  it 
should  revive  him  in  the  deepest  agony  !  And  must  I, 
Lord,  thus  live  for  ever?  Then  will  I  also  love  for  ever. 
Must  my  joys  be  immortal?  And  shall  not  my  thanks 
be  also  immortal  ?  Surely,  if  I  shall  never  lose  my 
glory,  I  will  never  also  cease  thy  praises.  If  thou  wilt 
both  perfect  and  perpetuate  me,  and  my  glory  ;  as  I 
shall  be  thine,  and  not  mine  own,  so  shall  my  glory  be 
thy  glory  ;  and  as  they  did  take  their  spring  from  thee, 
so  all  shall  devolve  to  thee  again :  and  as  thy  glory  was 
thine  ultimate  end  in  my  glory,  so  shall  it  also  be  mine 


61 

end,  when  thou  hast  crowned  me  with  that  glory  which 
hath  no  end.  And  to  "  thee,  O  King  eternal,  immortal, 
invisible,  the  only  wise  God,  shall  be  the  honour,  and 
glory,  for  ever  and  ever.     Amen." 


CHAPTER  YI. 

THE    PEOPLE    OF    GOD    DESCRIBED. 

Having  thus  performed  my  first  task  of  describing 
the  saints'  rest ;  it  remains  that  now  I  proceed  to  the 
second,  and  show  you  what  these  people  of  God  are, 
and  why  so  called,  for  whom  this  blessed  rest  remaineth. 

Regeneration  is  the  first  and  great  qualification  of  the 
people  of  God.  To  be  the  people  of  God  without 
regeneration  is  as  impossible  as  to  be  the  children  of 
men  without  generation  ;  seeing  we  are  born  God's 
enemies,  we  must  be  new  born  his  sons,  or  else  remain 
his  enemies  still. 

Christ  hath  spoken  it  with  his  mouth,  that  "  Except  a 
man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom 
of  God."  The  greatest  reformation  of  life,  without  this 
new  life,  wrought  in  the  soul,  may  procure  our  farther 
delusion,  but  never  our  salvation. 

But  by  what  acts  doth  this  new  life  discover  itself? 

The  first  work  I  call  conviction,  which  comprehends 
the  knowledge  of  what  the  Scripture  speaks  against 
sin  and  sinners  ;  and  that  this  Scripture  which  speaks 
so  is  the  word  of  God  himself.  It  comprehends,  also, 
some  knowledge  of  ourselves,  and  our  own  guilt,  and 
an  acknov/ledgment  of  the  verity  of  those  consequences, 
which,  from  the  practice  of  sin  in  us,  and  threats  in 
Scripture,  conclude  us  miserable. 

2.  As  there  must  be  conviction,  so  also  sensibility. 
God  works  on  the  heart,  as  well  as  th&  head  ;  both  were 
corrupted  and  out  of  order.  The  principle  of  new  life 
doth  quicken  both.  All  true  spiritual  knowledge  doth 
pass  into  the  affections.  The  great  things  of  sin,  of 
grace,  and  Christ,  and  eternity,  which  are  of  weight, 
one  would  think,  to  move  a  rock  ;  yet  shake  not  the 
heart  of  the  carnal  professor,  nor  pierce  his  soul  to  the 


62  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

quick  :  though  he  should  be  a  constant  preacher  of  them 
to  others,  yet  they  little  affect  himself:  when  he  is 
pressing  them  upon  the  hearts  of  others,  you  would 
little  think  how  insensible  is  his  own  soul :  his  invention 
procureth  him  zealous  and  moving  expressions,  but  they 
cannot  procure  him  answerable  affections. 

The  things  that  the  soul  is  thus  convinced  afld  sensible 
of,  are  especially  these  : — 

1.  The  evil  of  siil.  The  sinner  is  made  to  know  and 
feel  that  the  sin  which  was  his  delight,  is  a  more  loath- 
some thing  than  toads  or  serpents,  and  a  greater  evil 
than  plague  or  famine,  or  any  other  calamity  :  it  being 
a  breach  of  the  righteous  law  of  the  Most  High  God, 
dishonourable  to  him,  and  destructive  to  the  sinner. 

Now  the  sinner  reads  and  hears  the  reproofs  of  sin, 
as  words  of  course ;  but  when  you  mention  his  sin,  he 
feels  you  speak  at  his  very  heart,  and  yet  is  contented 
you  should  show  him  the  worst :  he  was  wont  to  marvel, 
what  made  men  keep  such  a  stir  against  sin,  what  harm 
it  was  for  a  man  to  take  a  little  pleasure  ;  he  saw  no 
such  heinousness  in  it.  But  now  the  case  is  altered  : 
God  hath  opened  his  eyes  to  see  its  inexpressible 
vileness. 

2.  The  soul  in  this  great  work  is  convinced  and  sen- 
sible, as  of  the  evil  of  sin,  so  of  its  own  misery  by 
reason  of  sin.  They  who  before  read  the  threats  of 
God's  law,  as  men  do  the  stories  of  foreign  wars,  now 
find  it  is  their  own  story,  and  perceive  they  read  their 
own  doom,  as  if  they  found  their  names  written  in  the 
curse,  or  heard  the  law  say,  as  Nathan,  "  Thou  art  the 
man."  The  wrath  of  God  seemed  to  him  but  as  a  storm 
to  a  man  in  a  dry  house  ;  but  now  he  finds  the  disease 
is  his  own,  and  feels  the  pains  in  his  own  bowels.  In  a 
word,  he  finds  himself  a  condemned  man,  dead  and 
damned  in  point  of  law,  and  that  nothing  is  wanting  but 
mere  execution  to  make  him  absolutely  and  irrecover- 
ably miserable. 

Whether  you  will  call  this  a  work  of  the  law  or  Gospel, 
it  is  a  woik  of  the  Spirit  wrought  in  some  measure  in 
all  the  regenerate  :  and  though  some  judge  it  unneces- 
sary bondage,  yet  it  is  beyond  my  conceiving  how  he 
should  come  to  Christ  for  pardon  that  first  found  not 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  63 

himself  guilty  and  condemned  :  "  The  whole  need  not 
the  physician,  but  they  that  are  sick."  Yet  I  deny  not 
but  the  discovery  of  the  remedy  as  soon  as  the  misery 
may  prevent  a  great  part  of  the  trouble,  and  the  distinct 
effect  on  the  soul  to  be  with  much  more  difficulty  dis- 
cerned :  nay,  the  actings  of  the  soul  are  so  quick,  and 
oft  so  confused,  that  the  distinct  order  of  these  work- 
ings may  not  be  apprehended  or  remembered  at  all ; 
and  perhaps  the  joyful  apprehensions  of  mercy  may 
make  the  sense  of  misery  the  sooner  forgotten. 

3.  So  doth  the  Spirit  also  convince  the  soul  of  the 
creature's  vanity  and  insufficiency.  Every  man  naturally 
is  a  flat  idolater.  Our  hearts  were  turned  from  God  in 
our  first  fall ;  and  ever  since  the  creature  hath  been  our 
God :  this  is  the  grand  sin  of  nature :  when  we  set  up 
to  ourselves  a  wrong  end,  we  must  needs  err  in  all  the 
means.  The  creature  is,  to  every  unregenerate  man, 
his  god :  he  ascribeth  to  it  the  Divine  prerogatives,  and 
alloweth  it  the  highest  room  in  his  soul  ;  or  if  ever  he 
come  to  be  convinced  of  misery,  he  fleeth  to  it  as  his 
Saviour.  Indeed  God  and  his  Christ  have  usually  the 
name ;  but  the  real  expectation  is  from  the  creature, 
and  the  work  of  God  is  laid  upon  it.  His  pleasure,  his 
profit,  and  his  honour,  is  the  natural  man's  trinity  ;  and 
his  self,  that  is  these  in  unity :  indeed,  it  is  that  flesh 
that  is  the  principal  idol ;  the  other  three  are  deified  in 
their  relation  to  ourselves.  It  was  our  first  sin  to 
aspire  to  be  as  gods ;  and  it  is  the  greatest  sin  that  runs 
in  our  blood,  and  is  propagated  in  our  nature  from 
generation  to  generation. 

When  God  should  guide  us,  we  guide  ourselves  ;  when 
he  should  be  our  sovereign,  we  rule  ourselves.  The 
laws  which  he  gives  us,  we  find  fault  w  ith ;  and  if  we 
had  had  the  making  of  them,  we  would  have  made  them 
otherwise  :  when  he  should  take  care  of  us,  (and  must, 
or  we  perish,)  we  will  care  for  ourselves  :  when  we 
should  depend  on  him  daily,  we  had  rather  keep  our 
stock  ourselves,  and  have  our  portion  in  our  own  hands  : 
when  we  should  stand  at  his  disposal,  we  would  be  at 
our  own  ;  and  when  we  should  submit  to  his  providence, 
we  usually  quarrel  at  it :  as  if  we  knew  better  what  is 
good  for  us  than  he,  or  how  to  dispose  all  things  more 


64  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

wisely.  This  is  the  language  of  a  carnal  heart,  though 
it  doth  not  always  speak  out.  When  we  should  study 
God,  Ave  study  ourselves  ;  when  we  should  mind  God, 
we  mind  ourselves  ;  when  we  should  love  God,  we  love 
ourselves  ;  when  we  should  trust  God,  we  trust  our- 
selves ;  Avhen  we  should  honour  God,  we  honour  our- 
selves ;  when  we  should  ascribe  to  God,  and  admire  him, 
we  ascribe  to,  and  admire  ourselves  ;  and  instead  of 
God,  we  would  have  all  men's  eyes  and  dependence 
on  us,  and  all  men's  thanks  returned  to  us,  and  would 
gladly  be  the  only  men  on  earth  admired  and  extolled 
by  all. 

And  thus  we  are  naturally  our  own  idols  ;  but  down 
falls  this  Dagon,  when  God  does  once  renew  the  soul : 
it  is  the  great  business  of  that  great  work  to  bring  the 
heart  back  to  God.  He  convinceth  the  sinner,  1.  That 
the  creature  can  neither  be  his  God  to  make  him  ;  2. 
Nor  yet  his  Christ,  to  recover  him  from  his  misery,  to 
restore  him  to  God,  who  is  his  happiness.  This  God 
doth,  not  only  by  preaching,  but  by  providence  also  ; 
because  words  will  hardly  take  off  the  raging  senses, 
therefore  doth  God  make  his  rod  to  speak,  and  continue 
speaking,  till  the  sinner  hear,  and  hath  learned  this 
great  lesson. 

This  is  the  great  reason  why  affliction  doth  so  ordi- 
narily concur  in  the  work  of  conversion:  these  real 
arguments  which  speak  to  the  quick,  will  force  a  hearing 
when  the  most  powerful  words  are  slighted.  When  a 
sinner  made  his  credit  his  God,  and  God  shall  cast  him 
into  the  lowest  disgrace  ;  or  bring  him  that  idolized  his 
riches  into  a  condition  wherein  they  cannot  help  him, 
or  cause  them  to  take  wings  and  fly  away ;  what  a  help 
is  here  to  this  work  of  conviction?  When  a  man  that 
made  his  pleasure  his  God,  whether  ease,  or  sports,  or 
mirth,  or  company,  or  gluttony,  or  drunkenness,  or 
clothing,  or  buildings  ;  or  whatsoever  a  ranging  eye,  a 
curious  ear,  a  raging  appetite,  or  a  lustful  heart  could 
desire,  and  God  shall  take  these  from  him,  or  give  him 
their  sting  and  curse  with  them,  and  turn  them  all  into 
gall  and  wormwood,  what  a  help  is  here  to  conviction? 
When  God  shall  cast  a  man  into  a  languishing  sickness, 
and  inflict  wounds  and  anguish  on  his  heart,  and  stir  up 


THE   saints'   everlasting  REST.  65 

against  him  his  own  conscience,  and  then  as  it  were 
take  him  by  the  hand,  and  lead  him  to  credit,  to  riches, 
to  pleasure,  to  company,  to  sports,  to  whatsoever  was 
dearest  to  him,  and  say.  Now  try  if  these  can  help  you ; 
can  these  heal  thy  wounded  conscience  ?  Can  they  now 
support  thy  tottering  cottage  ?  Can  they  keep  thy 
departing  soul  in  thy  body?  or  save  thee  from  mine 
everlasting  wrath  ?  Will  they  prove  to  thee  eternal 
pleasure  ?  or  redeem  thy  soul  from  the  eternal  flames  ? 
Cry  aloud  to  them,  and  see  now  whether  these  will  be 
instead  of  God  and  his  Christ  unto  thee.  O  how  this 
works  with  the  sinner  !  when  sense  itself  acknowledgeth 
the  truth,  and  even  the  flesh  is  convinced  of  the  crea- 
ture's vanity. 

4.  The  fourth  thing  that  the  soul  is  convinced  and 
sensible  of,  is  the  absolute  necessity,  the  full  sufficiency, 
and  perfect  excellence  of  Jesus  Chiist. 

This  conviction  is  not  by  mere  argumentation,  as  a 
man  is  convinced  of  some  unconcerning  consequence 
by  dispute  ;  but  also  by  the  sense  of  our  desperate  mi- 
sery, as  a  man  in  a  famine  of  the  necessity  of  food  ;  or 
a  man  that  had  read  or  heard  his  condemnation,  is  con- 
vinced of  the  absolute  necessity  of  a  pardon.  Now  the 
sinner  finds  himself  in  another  case  than  ever  he  was 
aware  of:  he  feels  an  insupportable  burden  upon  him, 
and  sees  there  is  none  but  Christ  can  take  it  off":  he 
perceives  that  he  is  under  the  wrath  of  God,  and  that 
the  law  proclaim.s  him  a  rebel  and  outlaw,  and  none 
but  Christ  can  make  his  peace  :  he  is  as  a  man  pur- 
sued by  a  lion,  that  must  perish  if  he  find  not  present 
sanctuary  :  he  feels  the  curse  doth  lie  upon  him,  and 
upon  all  he  hath,  for  his  sake,  and  Christ  alone  can 
make  him  blessed :  he  is  now  brought  to  this  dilemma, 
either  he  must  have  Christ  to  justify  him,  or  be  eter- 
nally condemned  ;  he  must  have  Christ  to  save  him,  or 
burn  in  hell  for  ever  ;  he  must  have  Christ  to  bring  him 
again  to  God,  or  to  be  shut  out  of  his  presence  ever- 
lastingly. And  no  wonder  if  he  cry,  as  the  martyr 
Lambert,  "  None  but  Christ :  none  but  Christ."  It  is 
not  gold  but  bread  that  will  satisfy  the  hungry  :  nor 
any  thing  but  pardon  that  will  comfort  the  condemned. 
"  All  things  are  now  but  dross  and  dung :  and  what  he 


66  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

counted  gain,  is  now  but  loss  in  comparison  of  Christ:" 
for  as  the  sinner  seeth  his  utter  misery,  and  the  disa- 
bility of  himself,  and  all  things  to  relieve  him ;  so  he 
doth  perceive  that  there  is  no  saving  mercy  out  of 
Christ.  There  is  none  found  in  heaven  or  on  earth  that 
can  open  the  sealed  book,  save  the  Lamb ;  without  his 
blood  there  is  no  remission,  and  without  remission  there 
is  no  salvation.  Could  the  sinner  now  make  any  shift 
without  Christ,  or  could  any  thing  else  supply  his  wants, 
and  save  his  soul,  then  might  Christ  be  disregarded : 
but  now  he  is  convinced  that  there  is  no  other  name, 
and  the  necessity  is  absolute. 

2.  And  as  the  soul  is  thus  convinced  of  the  necessity 
of  Christ,  so  also  of  his  full  sufficiency  :  he  sees,  though 
the  creature  cannot,  and  himself  cannot,  yet  Christ  can. 
Though  the  fig  leaves  of  our  own  unrighteous  righteous- 
ness are  too  short  to  cover  our  nakedness,  yet  the 
righteousness  of  Christ  is  large  enough  :  ours  is  dispro- 
portionable  to  the  justice  of  the  law,  but  Christ's  doth 
extend  to  every  tittle :  his  sufferings  being  a  perfect  sa- 
tisfaction to  the  law,  and  "all  power  in  heaven  and 
earth  being  given  to  him,"  he  is  now  able  to  supply 
every  of  our  wants,  and  "to  save  to  the  uttermost  all 
that  come  to  him." 

3.  The  soul  is  also  here  convinced  of  the  perfect  ex- 
cellency of  Jesus  Christ,  both  as  he  is  considered  in 
himself^,  and  as  considered  in  relation  to  us  :  both  as  he 
is  the  only  way  to  the  Father,  and  as  he  is  the  end,  be- 
ing one  with  the  Father.  Before,  he  knew  Christ's 
excellency  as  a  blind  man  knows  the  light  of  the  sun  ; 
but  now  aa  one  that  beholdeth  his  glory. 

And  thus  doth  the  Spirit  convince  the  soul. 

4.  After  this  sensible  conviction,  the  will  discovereth 
also  its  change  ;  and  that  in  regard  of  all  the  foremen- 
ticned  objects. 

1.  The  sin  which  the  understanding  pronounceth  evil 
the  will  doth  turn  from  with  abhorrency.  Not  that  the 
sensitive  appetite  is  changed,  or  any  way  made  to  abhor 
its  object ;  but  when  it  would  carry  us  to  sin  against 
God,  this  disorder  and  evil  the  will  abhorreth. 

2.  The  misery  also  which  sin  hath  procured,  as  he 
discerneth,  so  he  bewaileth.     It  is  impossible  that  the 


67 

soul  now  living,  should  look  either  on  its  trespass 
against  God,  or  its  own  self-procured  calamity,  without 
some  compunction.  He  that  truly  discerneth  that  he 
hath  killed  Christ,  and  killed  himself,  will  surely  in 
Bome  measure  be  pricked  to  the  heart.  If  he  cannot 
weep,  he  can  heartily  groan  ;  and  his  heart  feels  what 
his  understanding  sees. 

3.  The  creature  he  now  renounceth  as  vain,  and  turn- 
eth  it  out  of  his  heart  with  disdain.  Not  that  he  under- 
valueth  it,  or  disclaimeth  its  use ;  but  its  idolatrous 
abuse,  and  its  unjust  usurpation. 

There  is  a  two-fold  error  very  common  in  the  de- 
scriptions of  the  work  of  conversion.  The  one,  of  those 
who  only  mention  the  sinner's  turning  from  sin  to  God, 
without  mentioning  the  receiving  Christ  by  faith.  The 
other,  of  those  who  only  mention  a  sinner's  believing, 
and  then  think  they  have  said  all :  nay,  they  blame  them 
as  legalists,  who  make  any  thing  but  the  bare  believing 
of  the  love  of  God  in  Christ  to  us  to  be  part  of  the 
work  ;  and  would  persuade  poor  souls  to  question  all 
their  former  comforts,  and  conclude  the  work  to  have 
been  only  legal,  because  they  have  made  their  change 
of  heart,  and  turning  from  sin,  part  of  it ;  and  have  taken 
up  part  of  their  comfort  from  the  reviewing  of  these. 

Indeed,  should  they  take  up  here  without  Christ,  or 
take  such  a  change  instead  of  Christ,  in  whole  or  in  part, 
the  reprehension  were  just.  But  can  Christ  be  the  way, 
where  the  creature  is  the  end  ;  is  he  not  the  only  way 
to  the  Father  ?  Can  we  seek  to  Christ  to  reconcile  us 
to  God,  while  in  our  hearts  we  prefer  the  creature  before 
him  ?  In  the  soul  of  every  unregenerate  man,  the  crea- 
ture is  both  God  and  Christ.  Can  Christ  be  believed  in, 
where  our  own  righteousness,  or  any  other  thing,  is 
trusted  as  our  saviour  ? 

The  truth  is ;  as  turning  from  the  creature  to  God, 
and  not  by  Christ,  is  no  true  turning ;  so  believing  in 
Christ,  while  the  creature  hath  our  hearts,  is  no  true  be- 
lieving. And  therefore,  in  the  work  of  self  examination, 
whoever  would  find  in  himself  a  thorough  sincere  work, 
must  find  an  entire  work ;  even  the  one  of  these  as  well 
as  the  other. 

In  the  review  of  which  entire  work,  there  is  no  doubt 


68  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

but  his  soul  may  take  comfort.  And  it  is  not  to  be  made 
so  light  of,  as  most  do,  that  Scripture  doth  so  ordinarily 
put  repentance  before  faith,  and  make  them  jointly  con- 
ditions of  the  Gospel ;  which  repentance  contains  those 
acts  of  the  will  before  expressed. 

It  is  true,  if  we  take  faith  in  the  largest  sense,  then  it 
contains  repentance  in  it ;  but  if  we  take  it  strictly,  no 
doubt  there  are  some  acts  of  it  go  before  repentance, 
and  some  follow  after. 

4.  And  as  the  will  is  thus  averted  from  the  foremen- 
tioned  objects ;  so  at  the  same  time  doth  it  cleave  to 
God  the  Father,  and  to  Christ.  Its  first  acting  consists 
especially  in  intending  and  desiring  God  for  his  portion 
and  chief  good ;  having  before  been  convinced  that  no- 
thing else  can  be  his  happiness,  he  now  finds  it  in  God; 
and  therefore  looks  toward  it.  But  it  is  yet  rather  with 
desire  than  hope.  For  alas,  the  sinner  hath  already 
found  himself  to  be  a  stranger  and  an  enemy  to  God, 
under  the  guilt  of  sin  and  curse  of  the  law,  and  knows 
there  is  no  coming  to  him  in  peace  till  his  case  be  altered ; 
and  therefore,  having  before  been  convinced  also  that 
only  Christ  is  able  and  willing  to  do  this,  and  having 
heard  this  mercy  in  the  Gospel  freely  offered,  his  next 
act  is  to  accept  of  Christ  as  his  Saviour  and  Lord. 

Therefore  both  mistake  ;  they  who  only  mention  our 
turning  to  Christ,  and  they  who  only  mention  our  turn- 
ing to  God  in  this  work  of  conversion.  St.  Paul's 
preaching  was  "repentance  toward  God,  and  faith  to- 
ward our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  And  "life  eternal  con- 
sists, first  in  knowing  the  only  true  God,"  and  then 
"  Jesus  Christ  whom  he  hath  sent,"  John  xvii,  3.  The 
former  is  the  natural  part  of  the  covenant,  to  take  the 
Lord  only  for  our  God.  The  latter  is  the  supernatural 
part,  to  take  Christ  only  for  our  Redeemer.  The  former 
is  first  necessary,  and  implied  in  the  latter. 

Though  repentance  and  good  works  are  required  to 
our  full  justification  at  judgment,  as  subservient  to,  or 
concurrent  with  faith ;  yet  is  the  nature  of  this  justifying 
faith  itself  contained,  in  accepting  of  Christ  for  Saviour 
and  Lord.  I  call  it  accepting,  it  being  principally  an 
act  of  the  will ;  but  yet  also  of  the  whole  soul ;  this 
accepting  being  that  which  the  Gospel  presseth  to,  and 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  69 

calleth  the  receiving  or  accepting  Christ;  I  call  it  an 
affectionate  accepting,  though  love  seem  distinct  from 
faith,  yet  I  take  it  as  essential  to  that  faith  that  justifies. 
To  accept  Christ  without  love,  is  not  justifying  faith. 
Nor  doth  love  follow  as  a  fruit,  but  immediately  concur, 
as  essential  to  a  true  accepting. 

It  is  an  accepting  him  for  our  Saviour  and  Lord.  For 
in  both  relations  will  he  be  received,  or  not  at  all.  It 
is  not  only  to  acknowledge  his  sufferings,  and  accept  of 
pardon  and  glory,  but  to  acknowledge  his  sovereignty, 
and  submit  to  his  government  and  way  of  saving. 

The  work  (which  Christ  thus  accepted  of,  to  per- 
form,) is  to  bring  the  sinners  to  God,  that  they  may  be 
happy  in  him ;  and  this  both  really  by  his  Spirit,  and 
relatively  in  reconciling  them,  and  making  them  sons ; 
and  to  present  them  perfect  before  him  at  last,  and  to 
possess  them  of  the  kingdom.  The  obtaining  of  these 
are  the  sinner's  lawful  ends  in  receiving  Christ ;  and  to 
these  uses  doth  he  offer  himself  to  us. 

5.  To  this  end  doth  the  sinner  now  enter  into  a  cor- 
dial covenant  with  Christ.  But  he  was  never  strictly, 
nor  comfortably,  in  covenant  with  Christ  till  now.  He 
is  sure  Christ  doth  consent,  and  now  doth  he  cordially 
consent  himself;  and  so  the  agreement  is  fully  made. 

6.  With  this  covenant,  concurs  a  mutual  delivery ; 
Christ  delivereth  himself  in  all  comfortable  relations  to 
the  sinner,  and  the  sinner  delivereth  up  himself  to  be 
saved  and  ruled  by  Christ.  Now  doth  the  soul  resolv- 
edly conclude,  I  have  been  blindly  led  by  the  flesh,  the 
world,  and  .the  devil,  too  long,  almost  to  my  destruction  ; 
I  will  now  be  wholly  at  the  disposal  of  my  Lord,  who 
hath  bought  me  with  his  blood,  and  will  bring  me  to  his 
glory.  And  thus  the  complete  work  of  saving  faith  con- 
sisteth  in  this  covenanting,  or  mystical  marriage,  of  the 
sinner  to  Christ. 

Thus  you  have  a  naked  enumeration  of  the  essentials 
of  this  people  of  God  :  not  a  full  portraiture  of  them  in 
all  their  excellences,  nor  all  the  notes  whereby  they  be 
discerned.  And  though  it  will  be  part  of  the  following 
application  to  put  you  upon  trial  ;  yet  because  the  de- 
scription is  now  before  your  eyes,  and  these  evidencing 
worlds  are  fresh  in  your  memory,  it  will  not  be  unsea- 


70 

sonable  to  take  an  account  of  your  own  estates,  and  to 
view  yourselves  exactly  in  this  glass  before  you  pass. 
And  I  beseech  thee,  reader,  as  thou  hast  the  hope  of  a 
Christian,  yea,  or  the  reason  of  a  man,  to  deal  thorough- 
ly, and  search  carefully,  and  judge  thyself  as  one  that 
must  shortly  be  judged  ty  the  righteous  God  ;  and  faith- 
fully ansv/er  to  these  few  questions  : 

And  first,  Hast  thou  been  thoroughly  convinced  of  a 
universal  depravation  through  thy  whole  soul  ?  And  a 
universal  wickedness  through  thy  whole  life  ?  and  how 
vile  a  thing  this  sin  is  ?  and  that  by  the  tenor  of  that 
covenant  which  thou  hast  transgressed,  the  least  sin  de- 
serves eternal  death  ?  Dost  thou  consent  to  this  law, 
that  it  is  true  and  righteous?  Hast  thou  perceived  thy 
self  sentenced  to  this  death  by  it,  and  been  convinced 
of  thy  undone  condition?  Hast  thou  farther  seen  the 
utter  insufficiency  of  every  creature,  either  to  be  itself 
thy  happiness,  or  the  means  of  curing  this  thy  misery, 
and  making  thee  happy  in  God  ?  Hast  thou  been  con- 
vinced, that  thy  happiness  is  only  in  God  as  the  end  ? 
and  only  in  Christ  as  the  way  to  him  ?  and  that  thou 
must  be  brought  to  God  by  Christ,  or  perish  eternally  ? 
Hast  thou  seen  hereupon  an  absolute  necessity  of  enjoy- 
ing Christ  ?  and  the  full  sufficiency  that  is  in  him,  to  do 
for  thee  whatsoever  thy  case  requireth,  by  reason  of  the 
fulness  of  his  satisfaction,  the  greatness  of  his  power, 
the  dignity  of  his  person,  and  the  freeness  of  his  pro- 
mises? Hast  thou  discovered  the  excellency  of  this 
pearl,  to  be  worth  thy  selling  all  to  buy  it  ?  Hath  all 
this  been  joined  with  some  sensibility  ?  As  ihe  convic- 
tions of  a  man  that  thirsteth,  of  the  worth  of  drink? 
And  not  been  only  a  change  of  opinion  produced  by 
reading  and  education,  as  a  bare  notion  in  the  under- 
standing ?  Hath  it  proceeded  to  an  abhorring  sin  ? 
Have  both  thy  sin  and  misery  been  a  burden  to  thy 
soul?  and  if  thou  couldst  not  weep,  yet  couldst  thou 
groan  under  the  insupportable  weight  of  both  ?  Hast 
thou  renounced  all  thine  own  righteousness  ?  Hast 
thou  turned  thy  idols  out  of  thy  heart,  so  that  the  crea- 
ture hath  no  more  the  sovereignty,  but  God  and  Christ? 
Dost  thou  accept  of  Christ  as  thy  only  Saviour,  and  ex- 
pect thy  justification,   recovery,  and  glory,   from  him 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  71 

alone  ?  Dost  thou  take  him  also  for  thy  Lord  and  King  ? 
And  are  his  laws  the  most  powerful  commanders  of  thy 
soul  ?  Do  they  ordinarily  prevail  against  the  commands 
of  the  flesh,  of  Satan,  of  the  greatest  on  earth  that  shall 
countermand?  and  against  the  interest  of  thy  credit, 
profit,  pleasure,  or  life  ;  so  that  thy  conscience  is  directly 
subject  to  Christ  alone?  Hath  he  the  highest  room  in 
thy  affections  ;  so  that  though  thou  canst  not  love  him 
as  thou  wouldst,  yet  nothing  else  is  loved  so  much? 
Hast  thou  made  a  hearty  covenant  to  this  end  ?  and  de- 
livered up  thyself  to  him  ?  and  takest  thyself  for  his,  and 
not  thine  own  ?  Is  it  thy  utmost  care,  and  watchful  en- 
deavour, that  thou  mayest  be  found  faithful  in  this  cove- 
nant ?  If  this  be  truly  thy  case,  thou  art  one  of  the 
people  of  God,  and  as  sure  as  the  promise  of  God  is 
true,  this  blessed  rest  remains  for  thee.  Only  see  thou 
abide  in  Christ,  and  continue  to  the  end:  "For  if  any 
draw  back,  his  soul  will  have  no  pleasure  in  them." 

THE   CONCLUSION. 

And  thus  I  have  explained  to  you  the  subject  of  my 
text :  and  showed  you  darkly,  what  this  rest  is,  and 
briefly  who  are  this  people  of  God.  O  that  the  Lord 
would  now  open  your  eyes  to  discern  and  be  affected 
with  the  glory  revealed !  That  he  would  take  off  your 
hearts  from  those  dung  hill  delights,  and  ravish  them 
with  the  views  of  these  everlasting  pleasures  !  That  he 
would  bring  you  into  the  state  of  his  holy  and  heavenly 
people,  for  whom  alone  this  rest  remaineth  !  That  you 
would  exactly  try  yourselves  by  the  foregoing  descrip- 
tion !  That  no  soul  of  you  might  be  so  damnably  de- 
luded, as  to  take  your  natural  or  acquired  parts  for  the 
characters  of  a  saint!  O  happy,  and  thrice  happy  you, 
if  these  sermons  might  have  such  success  with  your 
souls,  that  so  you  might  "  die  the  death  of  the  righteous, 
and  your  last  end  be  like  his  !" 

END    OF    THE    FIRST    PART. 


THE 

SAINTS'  EVERLASTING  REST. 

PART  II.      ' 

"  There  remaincth  therefore  a  rest  to  the  people  of  God,"  Hebrews  iv,  9. 

CHAPTER  I. 

I  HAVE  been  hitherto  presenting  to  your  understand 
ings  the  excellency  of  the  rest  of  the  saints.  Let  youi 
hearts  now  cheerfully  embrace  it,  and  improve  it,  and  1 
shall  present  it  to  you  in  its  respective  uses. 

I  will  lay  together  all  those  uses  that  most  concern 
the  ungodly,  and  then  those  that  are  proper  to  the  godly 
themselves. 

THE   INCONCEIVABLE   MISERY   OF  THE   UNGODLY    IN  THEIR    LOSS  OF 
THIS    REST. 

And  first.  If  this  rest  be  for  none  but  the  people  of 
God,  what  tidings  is  this  to  the  ungodly  world?  That 
there  is  so  much  glory,  but  none  for  them  ;  so  great  joys 
for  the  saints  of  God,  while  they  must  consume  in  per- 
petual sorrows  !  If  thou  "vvho  readest  these  words  art  a 
stranger  to  Christ,  and  to  the  holy  nature  and  life  of  his 
people,  and  shall  live  and  die  in  the  condition  thou  art 
now  in  ;  I  am  a  messenger  of  the  saddest  tidings  to  thee 
that  ever  yet  thy  ears  did  hear :  that  thou  shalt  never 
partake  of  the  joys  of  heaven,  nor  have  the  least  taste 
of  the  saints'  eternal  rest.  I  may  say  to  thee,  as  Ehud 
to  Eglon,  I  have  a  message  to  thee  from  God :  but  it  is 
a  mortal  message,  that  as  sure  as  the  word  of  God  is 
true,  thou  shalt  never  see  the  face  of  God  with  comfort. 

This  sentence  I  am  commanded  to  pass  upon  thee ! 
Take  it  as  thou  wilt,  and  escape  it  if  thou  canst.  I 
know,  if  thy  heart  and  life  were  thoroughly  changed, 
thy  relation  to  Christ  and  eternity  would  be  changed 
also ;  he  would  then  acknowledge  thee  for  one  of  his 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  73 

people,  and  give  thee  a  portion  in  the  inheritance  of  his 
chosen.  But  if  thou  end  thy  days  in  thy  present  condi- 
tion, as  sure  as  the  heavens  are  over  thy  head,  and  the 
earth  under  thy  feet ;  as  sure  as  thou  livest  and  breath- 
est  in  this  air,  so  sure  shalt  thou  be  shut  out  of  this  rest 
of  the  saints,  and  receive  thy  portion  in  everlasting  fire. 
I  expect  that  thou  shouldst,  in  the  pride  of  thy  heart, 
turn  upon  me,  and  say.  And  when  did  God  show  you 
the  book  of  life,  or  tell  you  who  they  are  that  shall  be 
saved,  and  who  shut  out  ? 

I  will  not  answer  thee  according  to  thy  folly;  but 
plainly  discover  this  thy  folly  to  thyself,  that  if  there  be 
yet  any  hope,  thou  mayest  recover  thy  understanding, 
and  return  to  God  and  live :  First,  I  do  not  name  thee 
nor  any  other;  I  only  conclude  of  the  unregenerate  in 
general,  and  of  thee  conditionally,  if  thou  be  such  a  one. 
Secondly,  I  do  not  go  about  to  determine  who  shall  re- 
pent, and  who  shall  not,  much  less,  that  thou  shalt  never 
repent,  and  come  to  Christ.  These  things  are  unknown 
to  me ;  I  had  far  rather  show  thee  what  hopes  thou  hast 
before  thee,  if  thou  wilt  not  sit  still  and  lose  them  :  and 
I  would  far  rather  persuade  thee  to  hearken  in  time,  be- 
fore the  door  is  shut  against  thee,  that  so  thy  soul  may 
return  and  live,  than  tell  thee  that  there  is  no  hope  of 
thy  repenting  and  returning.  But  if  the  foregoing  de- 
cription  of  the  people  of  God  does  not  agree  with  the 
state  of  thy  soul ;  it  is  then  a  hard  question,  whether 
thou  shalt  ever  be  saved  !  even  as  hard  a  question  as 
whether  God  be  true  !  Do  I  need  to  ascend  up  into  hea- 
ven, to  know,  that  "  without  holiness  none  shall  see 
God  ?"  or  that  "  only  the  pure  in  heart  shall  see  God  ?" 
or  that  "except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  God  ?"  Cannot  these  be  known 
without  searching  into  God's  counsels?  And  yet  dost 
thou  ask  me,  how  I  know  who  shall  be  saved  ?  What 
need  I  go  up  to  heaven  to  inquire  that  of  Christ  which 
he  came  down  to  earth  to  tell  us  ?  and  sent  his  Spirit  in 
his  prophets  and  apostles  to  tell  us  ?  and  hath  left  upon 
record  to  all  the  world  ?  And  though  I  do  not  know 
the  secrets  of  thy  heart,  and  therefore  cannot  tell  thee 
by  name,  whether  it  be  thy  state  or  not ;  yet  if  thou  art 
but  willing  or  diligent,  thou  mayest  know  thyself  whe- 
4 


74  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

ther  thou  art  an  heir  of  heaven,  or  not.  And  that  is  the 
main  thing  that  I  desire,  that  if  thou  be  yet  miserable, 
thou  mayest  discern  it,  and  escape  it.  But  canst  thou 
escape,  if  thou  neglect  Christ  and  salvation  ?  "  If  thou 
love  father,  mother,  wife,  children,  houses,  lands,  or 
thine  own  life,  better  than  Christ ;  if  so,  thou  canst  not 
be  his  disciple."  And  consequently  canst  never  be 
saved  by  him.  Is  it  not  as  impossible  for  thee  to  be 
saved,  "  except  thou  be  born  again,"  as  it  is  for  the  de- 
vils themselves  to  be  saved  ?  Nay,  God  hath  more 
plainly  and  frequently  spoken  it  in  the  Scripture,  .that 
such  sinners  as  thou  shalt  never  be  saved,  than  he  hath 
done,  tliat  the  devils  shall  never  be  saved.  And  do  not 
these  tidings  go  cold  to  thy  heart  ?  Methinks,  but  that 
there  is  yet  life  and  hope  before  thee,  and  thou  hast  yet 
time  and  means  to  have  thy  soul  recovered,  the  sight  of 
thy  case  should  even  strike  thee  dead  with  amazement. 
But  because  I  would  fain  have  thee,  if  it  be  possible,  to 
lay  it  to  heart,  I  will  here  stay  a  little  longer,  and  show 
thee,  first,  the  greatness  of  thy  loss ;  secondly,  the  ag- 
gravations of  thy  unhappincss  in  this  loss  ;  thirdly,  the 
positive  miseries  that  thou  must  endure,  with  their  ag- 
gravations. 

First,  The  ungodly,  in  their  loss  of  heaven,  lose  all 
that  glorious  personal  perfection,  which  the- people  of 
God  there  enjoy.  They  lose  that  shining  lustre  of  the 
body,  surpassing  the  brightness  of  the  sun.  Though 
even  the  bodies  of  the  v/icked  will  be  raised  incorrupt- 
ible, yet  that  will  be  so  far  from  being  happiness  to 
them,  that  it  only  makes  them  capable  of  the  more  ex- 
quisite torments.  They  would  be  glad  then,  if  every 
member  were  a  dead  member,  that  it  might  not  feel  the 
punishment  inflicted  on  it  ;  and  the  whole  body  were  a 
rotten  carcass,  or  might  again  lie  down  in  dust  and  dark- 
ness. Much  more  do  they  want  that  moral  perfection 
which  the  blessed  partake  of;  those  holy  dispositions; 
that  blessed  conformity  to  the  holiness  of  God ;  that 
cheerful  readiness  to  do  his  will ;  that  perfect  rectitude 
of  all  their  actions:  instead  of  these,  they  have  their  old 
ulcerous,  deformed  souls,  that  perverseness  of  will,  that 
disorder  in  their  faculties,  that  loathing  of  good,  that 
love  to  evil,  that  violence  of  passion,  which  they  had  on 


75 

earth.  It  is  true,  their  understandings  will  be  much 
cleared,  both  by  the  ceasing  of  temptation  and  deluding 
objects,  and  by  the  sad  experience  which  they  will  have 
in  hell,  of  the  falsehood  of  theii-  former  conceits  and  de- 
lusions. But  the  evil  disposition  is  never  the  more 
changed ;  they  have  the  same  disposition  still,  and  fain 
would  commit  the  same  sins,  if  they  could  ;  they  want 
but  opportunity.  Certainly  they  shall  have  none  of  the 
glorious  perfections  of  the  saints,  either  in  soul  or  body. 
There  will  be  a  greater  difference  between  these 
wretches  and  the  glorified  Christians,  than  there  is  be- 
twixt a  toad  and  the  sun  in  the  firmament. 

Secondly,  But  the  great  loss  of  the  damned,  will  be 
their  loss  of  God  ;  they  shall  have  no  comfortable  rela- 
tion to  him,  nor  communion  with  him.  As  "  they  did 
not  like  to  retain  God  in  their  knowledge  ;"  but  bid  him 
♦'  depart  from  us,  we  desire  not  the  knowledge  of 
thy  ways  :"  so  God  will  abhor  to  retain  them  in  his 
household,  or  to  give  them  entertainment  in  his  fellow- 
ship and  glory.  He  will  never  admit  them  to  the  inhe- 
ritance of  his  saints,  nor  endure  them  to  stand  among 
them  in  his  presence  ;  but  bid  them,  "  Depart  from  m.e, 
ye  workers  of  iniquity,  I  know  you  not."  '  Now  these 
men  dare  belie  the  Lord,  if  not  blaspheme,  in  calling 
him  by  the  title  of  their  Father  ;  how  boldly  and  confi- 
dently do  they  daily  approach  him  with  their  lips,  and 
indeed  reproach  him  in  their  form9,l  prayers,  with  that 
appellation  ?  as  if  God  would  father  the  devil's  children ; 
or,  as  if  the  slighters  of  Christ,  the  friends  of  the  world, 
the  haters  of  godliness,  or  any  that  delight  in  iniquity, 
were  the  offspring  of  heaven  !  They  are  ready  now  to 
lay  confident  claims  to  Christ,  as  if  they  were  sincere 
believers.  But  when  that  time  is  comiC,  and  Christ  will 
separate  his  followers  from  his  foes,  and  his  faithful 
friends  from  his  deceived  flatterers,  where  then  will  be 
their  presumptuous  claim?  Then  they  shall  find  that 
God  is  not  their  father,  but  their  foe,  because  they  would 
not  be  his  people.  And  as  they  would  not  consent  that 
God  should,  by  his  Spirit,  dwell  in  them,  so  shall  not 
these  evil  doers  dwell  with  him :  the  tabernacles  of 
wickedness  shall  have  no  fellowship  with  him ;  nor  the 
wicked  inhabit  the  city  of  God :  "for  without  are  dogs, 


76 

sorcerers,  whoremongers,  murderers,  idolaters,  and 
whatsoever  loveth  and  maketh  a  lie."  God  is  first  en- 
joyed in  part  on  earth,  before  he  be  fully  enjoyed  in  hea- 
ven. It  is  only  they  that  walked  with  hitn  here,  who 
shall  live  and  be  happy  with  him  there.  O,  little  doth 
the  world  know  what  a  loss  that  soul  hath,  who  loseth 
God  !  What  were  the  world  but  a  dungeon,  if  it  had  lost 
the  sun  ?  .What  were  the  body  but  a  loathsome  carrion, 
if  it  had  lost  the  soul  ?  Yet  all  these  are  nothing  to  the 
loss  of  God.  So  that  as  the  enjoyment  of  God  is  the 
heaven  of  the  saints ;  so  the  loss  of  God  is  the  hell  of 
the  ungodly.  And  as  the  enjoying  of  God  is  the  enjoy- 
ing of  all ;  so  the  loss  of  God  is  the  loss  of  all. 

Thirdly,  As  they  lose  God,  so  they  lose  all  those 
delightful  affections  and  actions  by  which  the  blessed 
feed  on  God  :  that  transporting  knowledge  ;  those  ra- 
vishing views  of  his  glorious  face ;  the  inconceivable 
pleasure  of  loving  God ;  the  apprehensions  of  his  infi- 
nite love  to  us  ;  the  constant  joys  which  his  saints  are 
taken  up  with  ;  and  the  rivers  of  consolation  wherewith 
he  doth  satisfy  them.  Is  it  nothing  to  lose  all  this? 
The  employment  of  a  king  in  ruling  a  kingdom  doth 
not  so  far  exceed  the  employment  of  the  vilest  slave,  as 
this  heavenly  employment  exceedeth  his. 

Fourthly,  They  shall  be  deprived  of  the  blessed  soci- 
ety of  angels  and  glorified  saints.  Instead  of  being 
companions  of  those^  happy  spirits,  and  numbered  with 
those  joyful  and  triumphing  kings,  they  must  now  be 
members  of  the  corporation  of  hell,  where  they  shall 
have  companions  of  a  far  different  nature.  While  they 
lived  on  earth,  they  loathed  the  saints  ;  they  imprisoned, 
banished  them,  and  cast  them  out  of  their  societies,  or 
at  least  they  would  not  be  their  companions  in  labour 
and  in  sufferings  ;  and  therefore  they  shall  not  now  be 
their  companions  in  their  glory.  Now  you  are  shut  out 
of  that  company,  from  which  you  first  shut  out  your- 
selves ;  and  are  separated  from  them  whom  you  would 
not  be  joined  with.  You  could  not  endure  them  in  your 
houses,  nor  in  your  town,  nor  scarce  in  the  kingdom ; 
you  took  them  as  Ahab  did  Elias,  for  the  "  troublers  of 
the  land ;"  and  as  the  apostles  were  taken  for  "  men 
that  turned  the  world  upside  down :"  if  any  thing  fell 


THE   saints'   everlasting  REST.  77 

out  amiss,  you  thought  all  was  through  them.  When 
they  were  dead,  or  banished,  you  were  glad  they  were 
gone ;  and  thought  the  country  was  well  rid  of  them. 
They  molested  you  with  their  faithful  reproving  your 
sin  ;  their  holy  conversation  troubled  you.  You  scarce 
ever  heard  them  pray  or  sing  praises  in  their  families, 
but  it  was  a  vexation  to  you  ;  and  you  envied  their 
liberty  of  worshipping  God.  And  is  it  then  any  wonder 
if  you  be  separated  from  them  hereafter  !  The  day  is 
near  when  they  will  trouble  you  no  more  :  betwixt  them 
and  you  will  be  a  great  gulf  set,  that  those  that  would 
pass  from  thence  to  you  (if  any  had  a  desire  to  ease  you 
with  a  drop  of  water)  cannot,  neither  can  they  pass  to 
them,  who  would  go  from  you. 


CHAPTER  11. 

THE  AGGRAVATION  OF  THE  LOSS  OF  HEAVEN  TO  THE  UNGODLY. 

I  KNOW  many  will  be  ready  to  think,  if  this  be  all, 
they  do  not  much  care.  What  care  they  for  losing  the 
perfections  above  ?  What  care  they  for  losing  God,  his 
favour,  or  his  presence  ?  They  lived  merrily  without 
him  on  earth,  and  why  should  it  be  so  grievous  to  be 
without  him  hereafter  ?  And  what  care  they  for  being 
deprived  of  that  love,  and  joy,  and  praising  of  God? 
They  never  tasted  sweetness  in  the  things  of  that  nature ; 
or  what  care  they  for  being  deprived  of  the  fellowship 
of  angels  and  saints  ?  They  could  spare  their  company 
in  this  world  well  enough,  and  why  may  they  not  be 
without  it  in  the  world  to  come  ?  To  make  these  men 
therefore  understand  the  truth  of  their  future  condition, 
I  will  here  annex  these  two  things  : 

1.  I  will  show  you  why  this  loss  will  be  intolerable, 
and  most  tormenting  then,  though  it  seem  as  nothing 
now. 

2.  I  will  show  you  what  other  losses  will  accompany 
these  ;  which,  though  they  are  less  in  themselves,  yet 
will  now  be  more  sensibly  apprehended. 

•  1.  Then  that  this  loss  of  heaven  will  be  most  tor- 
menting, may  appear  by  these  considerations  : — 


78  THE  SAINTS     EVERLASTING  REST. 

1.  The  understandings  of  the  ungodly  will  be  then 
cleared,  to  know  the  worth  of  that  which  they  have  lost. 
Now  they  lament  not  their  loss  of  God,  because  they 
never  knew  his  excellence,  nor  the  loss  of  that  holy 
employment  and  society,  for  they  were  never  sensible 
what  they  were  worth.  A  man  that  hath  lost  a  jewel, 
and  took  it  but  for  a  common  stone,  is  never  troubled  at 
his  loss  ;  but  when  he  comes  to  know  what  he  has  lost, 
then  he  lamenteth  it. 

Though  the  understandings  of  the  damned  will  not 
then  be  sanctified  ;  yet  will  they  be  cleared  from  a  mul- 
titude of  errors.  They  think  now  that  their  honour, 
their  estates,  their  pleasures,  their  health  and  life,  are 
better  worth  their  labour,  than  the  things  of  another 
world ;  but  when  these  things  which  had  their  hearts 
have  left  them  in  misery,  when  they  know  by  experi- 
ence, the  things  which  before  they  did  but  read  and  hear 
of,  they  will  be  quite  in  another  mind.  They  would  not 
believe  that  water  would  drown,  till  they  were  in  the 
sea ;  nor  that  the  fire  would  burn,  till  they  were  cast 
into  it ;  but  when  they  feel  it,  they  will  easily  believe. 
All  that  error  of  their  mind  which  made  them  set  light 
by  God,  and  abhor  his  worship,  and  vilify  his  people, 
will  then  be  removed  by  experience  ;  their  knowledge 
shall  be  increased,  that  their  sorrows  may  be  increased. 
Doubtless  those  poor  souls  would  be  comparatively 
happy,  if  their  understandings  were  wholly  taken  from 
them,  if  they  had  no  more  knowledge  than  idiots,  or 
brute  beasts  ;  or  if  they  knew  no  more  in  hell  than 
they  did  upon  earth,  their  loss  and  misery  would  then 
less  trouble  them. 

How  happy  would  they  now  think  themselves,  if  they 
did  not  know  there  is  such  a  place  as  heaven  ?  Now, 
when  their  knowledge  would  help  to  prevent  their 
misery,  they  will  not  know  ;  but  then,  when  their  know- 
ledge will  but  feed  their  consuming  fire,  they  shall  know 
whether  they  will  or  not. 

2.  The  loss  of  heaven  will  more  torment  them,  then, 
because,  as  the  understanding  will  be  clearer,  so  it  will 
be  more  enlarged,  and  made  more  capacious,  to  conceive 
of  the  worth  of  that  glory  which  they  have  lost.  The 
strength  of  their  apprehensions,  as  well  as  the  truth  of 


THE   SA.INTS     EVERLASTING   REST.  79 

them,  will  then  be  increased.  What  deep  apprehensions 
of  the  wrath  of  God,  of  the  madness  of  sinning,  of  the 
misery  of  sinners,  have  these  souls  that  now  endure  this 
misery,  in  comparison  of  those  on  earth  that  do  but  hear 
of  it  ?  What  sensible  apprehensions  of  the  worth  of 
life,  hath  the  condemned  man  that  is  going  to  be  execu- 
ted, in  comparison  of  what  he  was  wont  to  have  in  the 
time  of  his  prosperity?  Much  more  will  the  actual 
deprivation  of  eternal  blessedness  make  the  damned 
exceeding  apprehensive  of  the  greatness  of  their  loss  ; 
and  as  a  large  vessel  will  hold  more  water  than  a  shell, 
so  will  their  more  enlarged  understandings  contain  more 
matter  to  feed  their  torment  than  now  their  shallow 
capacity  can  do. 

3.  And  as  the  damned  will  have  deeper  apprehensions 
of  the  happiness  they  have  lost,  so  will  they  have  a 
closer  application  of  this  doctrine  to  themselves,  which 
will  exceedingly  tend  to  increase  their  torment.  It  will 
then  be  no  hard  matter  for  them  to  say,  this  is  my  loss, 
and  this  is  my  everlasting  misery.  The  want  of  this 
is  the  main  cause  why  they  are  now  so  little  troubled  at 
their  condition  :  they  are  hardly  brought  to  believe  that 
there  is  such  a  state  of  misery,  but  more  hardly  to 
believe  that  it  is  like  to  be  their  own.  This  makes  so 
many  sermons  to  be  lost,  and  all  threatenings  and  warn- 
ings prove  in  vain.  Let  a  minister  of  Christ  show  them 
their  misery  never  so  plainly,  they  will  not  be  persuaded 
that  they  are  so  miserable.  Let  him  tell  them  of  the 
glory  they  must  lose,  and  the  sufferings  they  must  feel, 
and  they  think  it  is  not  they  whom  he  means.  We  find 
in  all  our  preaching,  by  sad  experience,  that  it  is  one  of 
the  hardest  things  in  the  world  to  bring  a  wicked  man  to 
know  that  he  is  wicked ;  a  man  that  is  in  the  way  to 
hell,  to  know  that  he  is  in  that  way ;  or  to  make  a  man 
see  himself  in  a  state  of  wrath  and  condemnation.  How 
seldom  do  we  hear  men,,  after  the  plainest  discovery  of 
their  condemned  state,  cry  out,  "  I  am  the  man !"  or  to 
acknowledge  that  if  they  die  in  their  present  condition, 
they  are  undone  for  ever. 

There  is  no  persuading  men  of  their  misery  till  they 
feel  it,  except  the  Spirit  of  the  Almighty  persuade  them. 

O,  but  when  they  find  themselves  suddenly  in  the 


80  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

land  of  darkness ;  perceive,  by  the  execution  of  the 
sentence  that  they  were  indeed  condemned,  and  feel 
themselves  in  the  scorching  flames  ;  and  see  that  they 
are  shut  out  of  the  presence  of  God  for  ever ;  it  will 
then  be  no  such  difficult  matter  to  convince  them  of 
their  misery.  This  particular  application  of  God's 
anger  to  themselves  will  then  be  the  easiest  matter  in 
the  world  ;  then  they  cannot  choose  but  know  and  apply 
it,  whether  they  will  or  not. 

4.  Again,  as  the  understandings  and  consciences  of 
sinners  will  be  strengthened,  so  will  their  affections  be 
more  lively  and  enlarged  ;  as  judgment  will  be  no  longer 
blinded,  nor  conscience  stifled,  so  the  affections  will  be 
no  longer  stupified.  A  hard  heart  now  makes  heaven 
and  hell  seem  but  trifles  :  and  when  we  have  showed 
them  everlasting  glory  and  misery,  they  are  as  men  half 
asleep,  they  scarce  take  notice  what  we  say  ;  our  words 
are  cast  as  stones  against  a  hard  wall,  which  fly  back  in 
the  face  of  him  that  casteth  them.  We  talk  of  terribly 
astonishing  things,  but  it  is  to  dead  men  that  cannot 
apprehend  it :  we  speak  to  rocks  rather  than  to  men : 
the  earth  will  as  soon  tremble  as  they.  But  when  these 
dead  wretches  are  revived,  what  passionate  sensibility ! 
what  working  affections  !  what  pangs  of  horror  !  what 
depth  of  sorrow  will  there  then  be  !  How  violently 
will  they  fly  in  their  own  faces  !  How  will  they  rage 
against  their  former  madness  !  The  lamentations  of  the 
most  passionate  wife  for  the  loss  of  her  husband,  or  of 
the  tenderest  mother  for  the  loss  of  her  children,  will 
be  nothing  to  theirs  for  the  loss  of  heaven.  O,  the  self- 
accusing  and  self-tormenting  fury  of  those  forlorn 
wretches  !  How  they  will  even  tear  their  own  hearts, 
and  be  God's  executioners  upon  themselves  !  I  am 
persuaded,  as  it  was  none  but  themselves  that  committed 
the  sin,  and  themselves  that  were  the  meritorious  cause 
of  their  sufferings,  so  themselves  will  be  the  chief  exe- 
cutioners of  those  sufferings  ;  God  will  have  it  so  for 
the  clearing  of  his  justice  ;  even  Satan  himself,  as  he 
was  not  so  great  a  cause  of  their  sinning  as  themselves, 
so  will  he  not  be  so  great  an  instrument  of  their  tor- 
ment. How  happy  would  you  think  yourselves  then 
if  you  were  turned  into  rocks,  or  any  thing  that  had 


THE  saints'  everlasting  REST.  81 

neither  passion  nor  sense  !  How  happy  were  you,  if 
you  could  now  feel  as  lightly  as  you  were  wont  to  hear  ! 
And  if  you  could  sleep  out  the  time  of  execution,  as 
you  did  the  time  of  the  sermons  that  warned  you  of  it ! 
But  your  stupidity  is  gone,  it  will  not  be. 

5.  Moreover,  it  will  much  increase  the  torment  of  the 
damned,  that  their  memories  will  be  as  large  and  strong 
as  their  understandings  and  affections.  Were  their  loss 
never  so  great,  and  their  sense  of  it  never  so  passionate, 
yet  if  they  could  but  lose  the  use  of  their  memory, 
those  passions  would  die,  and  that  loss,  being  forgotten, 
would  little  trouble  them.  But  as  they  cannot  lay  by 
their  life  and  being,  so  neither  can  they  lay  aside  any 
part  of  that  being.  ^  Understanding,  conscience,  affec- 
tions, memory,  must  all  live  to  torment  them,  which* 
should  have  helped  to  their  happiness.  And  as  by  these 
they  should  have  fed  upon  the  love  of  God,  and  drawn 
forth  perpetually  the  joys  of  his  presence  ;  so  by  these 
must  they  now  feed  upon  the  wrath  of  God,  and  draw 
forth  continually  the  pains  of  his  absence. 

And  yet  these  men  would  never  be  brought  to  con- 
sider. But  in  the  latter  days,  saith  the  Lord,  they  shall 
perfectly  consider  it;  when  they  are  ensnared  in  the 
work  of  their  own  hands  ;  when  God  hath  arrested 
them,  and  judgment  is  passed  upon  them,  and  vengeance 
is  poured  out  upon  them  to  the  full,  then  they  cannot 
choose  but  consider  it,  whether  they  will  or  not.  Now 
they  have  no  leisure  to  consider,  nor  any  room  in  their 
memories  for  the  things  of  another  life.  But  then  they 
shall  have  leisure  enough,  they  shall  be  where  they  have 
nothing  else  to  do ;  their  memories  shall  have  no  other 
employment ;  it  shall  be  engraven  upon  the  tables  of 
their  hearts.  God  would  have  had  the  doctrine  of  their 
eternal  state  to  have  been  written  on  the  posts  of  their 
doors,  on  their  houses,  on  their  hands,  and  on  their 
hearts :  and  seeing  they  rejected  this  counsel  of  the 
Lord,  therefore  shall  it  be  written  always  before  them 
in  the  place  of  their  thraldom,  that  which  way  soever 
they  look,  they  may  still  behold  it. 

I  will  briefly  lay  down  some  of  those  considerations 
which  will  thus  feed  the  anguish  of  these  damned 
wretches. 


82  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

1.  It  will  torment  them  to  think  of  the  greatness  of 
the  glory  which  they  have  lost.  O,  if  it  had  been  that 
which  they  could  have  spared,  it  had  been  a  small 
matter;  or  if  it  had  been  a  loss  reparable  with  any  thing 
else ;  if  it  had  been  health,  or  wealth,  or  friends,  or  life, 
it  had  been  nothing  ;  but  to  lose  "  that  exceeding  and 
eternal  weight  of  glory  !" 

2.  It  will  torment  them  to  think  of  the  possibility  that 
once  they  were  in  of  obtaining  it.  Then  they  will  re- 
member the  time  was,  when  I  was  in  as  fair  a  possibility 
of  the  kingdom  as  others ;  I  was  set  upon  the  stage  of 
the  world ;  if  I  had  played  my  part  wisely  and  faith- 
fully, now  I  might  have  had  possession  of  the  inherit- 
ance ;  I  might  have  been  among  yonder  blessed  saints, 
who  am  now  tormented  with  these  damned  fiends  !  The 
Lord  did  set  befoj-e  me  life  and  death,  and  having  chosen 
death,  I  deserve  to  sufter  it.  The  prize  was  once  held 
out  before  me  ;  if  I  had  run  well,  I  might  have  obtained 
it ;  if  I  had  striven,  I  might  have  had  the  mastery ;  if  I 
had  fought  valiantly,  I  had  been  crowned. 

3.  It  will  yet  more  torment  them  to  remember,  not 
only  the  possibility,  but  the  great  probability  that  once 
they  were  in  to  obtain  the  crown.  It  will  then  wound 
them  to  think.  Why  I  had  once  the  gales  of  the  Spirit 
ready  to  have  assisted  me.  I  was  fully  purposed  to 
have  been  another  man,  to  have  cleaved  to  Christ,  and 
to  have  forsook  the  world  :  I  was  almost  resolved  to 
have  been  wholly  for  God  :  I  had  even  cast  off  my  old 
companions,  and  yet  I  turned  back,  and  lost  my  hold, 
and  broke  my  promises,  and  slacked  my  purposes ;  al- 
most God  had  persuaded  me  to  be  a  real  Christian,  and 
yet  I  conquered  those  persuasions.  What  workings 
were  in  my  heart,  when  a  faithful  minister  pressed  home 
the  truth  !  O  how  fair  was  I  once  for  heaven  ?  I  had 
almost  had  it,  and  yet  I  have  lost  it ;  if  I  had  but  fol- 
lowed on  to  seek  the  Lord,  and  blown  up  the  sparks  of 
desire  which  were  kindled  in  me,  I  had  now  been 
blessed  among  the  saints. 

4.  Yet  farther,  it  will  much  add  to  their  torment  to 
remember  that  God  himself  did  condescend  to  entreat 
them  ;  how  long  he  did  wait,  how  freely  he  did  offer, 
how  lovingly  he  did  invite,  and  how  importunately  he 


THE  saints'   everlasting   REST.  83 

did  solicit  them !  how  the  Spirit  did  continue  striving 
with  their  hearts,  as  if  he  were  loath  to  take  a  denial : 
how  Christ  stood  knocking  at  the  door  of  their  hearts, 
sermon  after  sermon,  and  one  Sabbath  after  another, 
crying  out.  Open  sinner,  open  thy  heart  to  the  Saviour, 
and  "  I  will  come  in  and  sup  with  thee,  and  thou  with 
me."  Why  dost  thou  thus  delay  ?  What  dost  thou 
mean  that  thou  dost  not  open  to  me  ?  How  long  shall 
it  be  till  thou  attain  to  innocency  ?  "  How  long  shall 
thy  vain  thoughts  lodge  within  thee  ?"  Wo  to  thee,  O 
unworthy  sinner  !  Wilt  thou  not  be  made  clean  ?  Wilt 
thou  not  be  pardoned,  and  sanctified,  and  made  happy  ? 
When  shall  it  once  be  ?  O  that  thou  wouldst  hearken 
to  my  word,  and  obey  my  Gospel !  "  Then  should  thy 
peace  be  as  the  river,  and  thy  righteousness  as  the  waves 
of  the  sea  :  though  thy  sins  were  as  red  as  crimson,  I 
would  make  them  as  white  as  the  snow  :  O  that  thou 
were  but  wise  to  consider  this  !  and  that  thou  wouldst 
in  time  remember  thy  latter  end,  before  the  evil  days 
come  upon  thee,  and  the  years  draw  nigh,  when  thou 
shalt  say  of  all  thy  vain  delights,  I  have  no  pleasure  in 
them !"  Why,  sinner !  shall  thy  Maker  thus  bespeak 
thee  in  vain  ?  Shall  the  God  of  all  the  world  beseech 
thee  to  be  happy,  and  beseech  thee  to  have  pity  upon 
thine  own  soul,  and  wilt  thou  not  regard  him  ?  Why 
did  he  make  thy  ears,  but  to  hear  his  voice  ?  Why  did 
he  make  thy  understanding,  but  to  consider  ?  Or  thy 
heart,  but  to  entertain  the  Son  in  love  ?  "  Thus  saith 
the  Lord  of  hosts,  consider  thy  ways." 

O  how  all  these  passionate  pleadings  of  Christ  will 
passionately  transport  the  damned  with  self-indigna- 
tion !  that  they  will  be  ready  to  tear  out  their  own 
hearts  !  How  fresh  will  the  remembrance  of  them  be 
still  in  their  minds,  lancing  their  souls  with  renewed 
torments  !  What  self-condemning  pangs  will  it  raise 
within  them,  to  remember  how  oft  Christ  would  have 
gathered  them  to  himself,  "  even  as  the  hen  gathereth 
her  chickens  under  her  wings,  but  they  would  not  ?" 
Then  will  they  cry  out  against  themselves.  How  justly 
is  all  this  befallen  me  !  Must  I  tire  out  the  palience  of 
Christ?  Must  I  make  the  God  of  heaven  to  follow  me 
in  vain,  till  I  had  wearied  him  with  crying  to  me.  Repent^ 


84  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

return  ?  Must  the  Lord  of  all  the  world  thus  wait  upon 
me,  and  all  in  vain  ?  O  how  justly  is  that  patience  now 
turned  into  fury,  which  falls  upon  my  soul  with  irre- 
sistible violence  !  When  the  Lord  cried  out  to  me  in 
his  v/ord,  "  How  long  will  it  be  before  thou  wilt  be 
made  clean  and  holy  ?"  my  heart,  or  at  least  my  prac- 
tice, answered,  Never  ;  I  will  never  be  so  precise  :  and 
now  when  I  cr)^  out,  "  How  long  will  it  be  till  I  be  freed 
from  this  torment,  and  saved  Math  the  saints  ?"  how 
justly  do  I  receive  the  answer,  Never,  never  !  O  sinner, 
I  beseech  thee,  for  thy  own  sake,  think  of  this  while  the 
voice  of  mercy  soundeth  in  thine  ears !  Yet  patience 
contirmeth  waiting  upon  thee  ;  canst  thou  think  it  will 
do  so  still  ?  Yet  the  offers  of  Christ  and  life  are  made 
to  thee  in  the  Gospel,  and  the  hand  of  God  is  stretched 
out  to  thee  ;  but  will  it  still  be  thus  ?  The  Spirit  hath 
not  yet  done  striving  with  thy  heart ;  but  dost  thou 
know  how  soon  he  may  turn  away,  and  give  thee  over 
to  a  reprobate  mind  ?  Thou  hast  yet  life,  and  time,  and 
strength,  and  means ;  but  dost  thou  think  that  this  life 
will  always  last  ?  O  "  seek  the  Lord  while  he  may  be 
found,  and  call  upon  him  while  he  is  near  :  he  that  hath 
an  ear  to  hear,  let  him  hear"  what  Christ  now  speaketh 
to  his  soul.  And  "  to-day,  while  it  is  called  to-day, 
harden  not  your  hearts,  lest  he  swear  in  his  wrath  that 
y^ou  shall  never  enter  into  his  rest."  For  ever  blessed 
IS  he  that  hath  a  hearing  heart  and  ear,  while  Christ 
hath  a  calling  voice. 

5.  Again,  it  will  be  a  most  cutting  consideration  to 
these  to  remember  on  what  easy  terms  they  might  have^ 
escaped  their  misery.  If  their  work  had  been  to  re- 
move mountains,  to  conquer  kingdoms,  then  the  impos- 
sibility would  somewhat  assuage  the  rage  of  their  self- 
accusing  conscience.  If  their  conditions  for  heaven  had 
been  the  satisfying  of  justice  for  all  their  transgressions, 
the  suffering  of  all  the  law  did  lay  upon  them,  or  bearing 
the  burden  which  Christ  was  fain  to  bear ;  this  were 
nothing  but  to  suffer  hell  to  escape  hell.  But  their  con- 
ditions were  of  another  nature.  The  yoke  was  light, 
and  the  burden  was  easy,  which  Jesus  Christ  would  have 
laid  upon  them  ;  his  commandments  were  not  grievous. 
It  was  but  to  repent,  and  accept  him  as  their  Saviour ; 


THE   saints'   everlasting  REST.  85 

to  study  his  will,  and  seek  his  face  ;  to  renounce  all 
other  happiness  but  that  which  he  procureth  us,  and  to 
take  the  Lord  alone  for  our  supreme  good  ;  to  renounce 
the  government  of  the  world  and  the  flesh,  and  to  sub- 
mit to  his  meek  and  gracious  government ;  to  forsake 
the  ways  of  our  own  devising,  and  to  Avalk  in  his  holy, 
delightful  way  ;  to  engage  ourselves  to  this  by  covenant 
with  him,  and  to  continue  faithful  in  that  covenant. 

These  were  the  terms  on  which  they  might  have 
enjoyed  the  kingdom.  And  was  there  any  thing  unrea- 
sonable in  all  this?  Was  it  a  hard  bargain  to  have 
heaven  upon  these  conditions  ? 

When  the  poor  wretch  shall  look  back  upon  these 
easy  terms  which  he  refused,  and  compare  the  labour 
of  them  with  the  pains  and  loss  which  he  there  sus- 
taineth,  it  cannot  be  now  conceived  how  it  will  rend  his 
very  heart !  Ah,  thinks  he,  how  justly  do  I  suffer  all 
this,  who  would  not  be  at  so  small  pains  to  avoid  it. 
Where  was  my  understanding  when  I  neglected  thy 
gracious  oflfer ;  when  I  called  the  Lord  a  hard  master, 
and  thought  his  pleasant  service  to  be  a  bondage,  and 
the  service  of  the  devil  and  my  flesh  to  be  the  only 
freedom  ?  Was  I  not  a  thousand  times  worse  than  mad, 
when  I  censured  the  holy  way  of  God  as  needless  pre- 
ciseness  ?  and  cried  out  on  it,  as  an  intolerable  burden  ? 
When  I  thought  the  laws  of  Christ  too  strict,  and  all  too 
much  that  I  did  for  the  life  to  come  ?  O  what  had  all 
the  trouble  of  duty  been,  in  comparison  of  the  trouble 
I  now  sustain  ?  or  all  the  sufferings  for  Christ  and  well 
doing,  in  comparison  of  these  sufferings  that  I  must 
undergo  for  ever?  What  if  I  had  spent  my  days  in  the 
strictest  life?  What  if  I  had  lived  still  upon  my  knees? 
What  if  I  had  lost  my  credit  with  m.en  ?  and  been  hated 
of  all  men  for  the  sake  of  Christ?  and  borne  the  re- 
proach of  the  foolish  ?  What  if  I  had  been  imprisoned, 
or  banished,  or  put  to  death  ?  O  what  had  all  this  been 
to  the  miseries  that  I  now  suffer  !  Would  not  the  heaven 
which  I  have  lost,  have  recompensed  all  my  losses  ?  and 
should  not  all  my  suff*erings  have  been  there  forgotten  ? 
What  if  Christ  had  bid  me  do  some  great  matter;  as  to 
live  in  continual  tears  and  sorrow,  to  suffler  death  a  hun- 
dred times  over,  (which  yet  he  did  not ;)  should  I  not 


86  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

have  done  it?  How  much  more  when  he  said,  but 
*'  beheve,  and  be  saved :  seek  my  face,  and  thy  soul 
shall  live  :  love  me  above  all,  walk  in  my  sweet  and 
holy  way,  take  up  thy  cross  and  follow  me,  and  I  Avill 
save  thee  from  the  wrath  of  God,  and  I  will  give  thee 
everlasting  life."  O  gracious  offer  !  O  easy  terms ! 
O  cursed  wretch,  that  would  not  be  persuaded  to  accept 
them ! 

6.  This  also  will  be  a  most  tormenting  consideration, 
to  remember  what  they  sold  their  eternal  welfare  for. 
"When  they  compare  the  value  of  the  pleasures  of  sin, 
with  the  value  of  the  recompense  of  reward,  how  will 
the  vast  disproportion  astonish  them  !  To  think  of  a  few 
pleasant  cups,  or  sweet  morsels,  a  little  ease,  or  low  de- 
light to  the  flesh  ;  and  then  to  think  of  everlasting  glory ! 
What  a  vast  difference  between  them  will  then  appear ! 
To  think,  this  is  all  I  had  for  my  soul,  my  God,  my 
hopes  of  blessedness  !  It  cannot  possibly  be  expressed 
how  these  thoughts  will  tear  his  heart.  Then  will  he 
exclaim  against  his  folly,  O  miserable  wretch  !  Did  I 
set  my  soul  to  sale  for  so  base  a  price  ?  Did  I  part  with 
my  God  for  a  little  dirt  and  dross  ?  and  sell  my  Saviour, 
as  Judas,  for  a  little  silver?  O  for  how  small  a  matter 
have  I  parted  with  my  happiness  !  I  had  but  a  dream  of 
delight,  for  my  hopes  of  heaven  :  and  now  I  am  awaked, 
it  is  all  vanished  :  where  are  now  my  honours  and  at- 
tendance ?  My  morsels  are  now  turned  to  gall,  and  my 
cups  to  wormwood.  They  delighted  me  no  longer  than 
while  they  were  passing  down  :  and  is  this  all  I  have 
had  for  the  inestimable  treasure  ?  O  what  a  mad  ex- 
change did  I  make  !  What  if  I  had  gained  all  the  world, 
and  lost  my  soul  ?  But,  alas,  how  small  a  part  of  the 
world  was  it,  for  which  I  gave  up  my  part  of  glory  !  O 
that  sinners  Avould  think  of  this,  when  they  are  swim- 
ming in  delights,  and  studying  to  be  rich  and  honoura- 
ble !  When  they  are  desperately  venturing  upon  known 
transgression,  and  sinning  against  the  checks  of  con- 
science ! 

7.  Yet  much  more  will  it  add  unto  their  torment, 
when  they  consider  that  all  this  was  their  own  doings, 
and  that  they  wilfully  procured  their  own  destruction  : 
had  thev  been  forced  to  sin,  it  would  much  abate  the 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  87 

rage  of  their  consciences,  or  if  they  were  punished  for 
another  man's  transgressions  :  or  if  any  other  had  been 
the  chief  author  of  their  ruin  :  but  to  think  that  it  was 
the  choice  of  their  own  wills,  and  that  God  had  set  them 
in  so  free  a  condition,  that  none  in  the  world  could  have 
forced  them  to  sin  against  their  wills,  this  will  be  a 
griping  thought.  What!  (thinks  this  wretched  crea- 
ture,) had  I  not  enemies  enough  in  the  world,  but  I  must 
be  an  enemy  to  myself?  God  would  give  neither  the 
devil,  nor  the  world,  so  much  power  over  me,  as  to 
force  me  to  commit  the  least  transgression.  If  I  had 
not  consented,  their  temptations  had  been  in  v^in  ;  they 
could  but  entice  me,  it  was  myself  that  yielded,  and  did 
the  evil ;  and  I  must  needs  lay  hands  upon  my  own 
soul,  and  imbrue  my  hands  in  my  own  blood.  Who 
should  pity  me,  who  pitied  not  myself,  and  who  brought 
all  this  r.pon  mine  own  head  ?  Never  did  God  do  me 
any  good,  or  offer  me  any  for  the  welfare  of  my  soul, 
but  I  resisted  him  :  he  hath  heaped  mercy  upon  me,  and 
renewed  one  deliverance  after  another,  to  entice  my 
heart  to  him,  and  yet  was  I  never  heartily  willing  to 
serve  him  :  he  hath  gently  chastised  me,  and  made  me 
groan  under  the  fruit  of  my  disobedience,  and  yet, 
though  I  promised  largely  in  my  affliction,  I  was  never 
unfeignedly  willing  to  obey  him. 

Thus  will  it  gnaw  the  hearts  of  these  wretches,  to  re- 
member that  they  were  the  cause  of  their  undoing  ;  and 
that  they  wilfully  and  obstinately  persisted  in  their  re- 
bellion, and  were  mere  volunteers  in  the  service  of  the 
devil.  They  Avould  venture,  they  would  go  on,  they 
would  not  hear  him  that  spoke  against  it :  God  called  to 
them  to  hear  and  stay,  but  they  would  not :  men  called, 
conscience  called,  and  said  to  them,  (as  Pilate's  wife,) 
Have  nothing  to  do  with  that  hateful  sin ;  for  I  have 
suffered  many  things  because  of  it :  but  they  would  not 
hear ;  their  will  was  their  law,  their  rule,  and  their  ruin. 

8.  Lastly,  It  will  yet  make  the  wound  in  their  con- 
sciences much  deeper,  when  they  shall  remember  that 
it  was  not  only  their  own  doing,  but  that  they  were  at 
so  much  cost  and  pains  for  theii*  own  damnation.  What 
great  undertakings  did  they  engage  in  to  effect  their 
ruin,  to  resist  God,  to  conquer  the  Spirit,  to  overcome 


88  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

the  power  of  mercies,  judgments,  and  the  word  itself, 
to  silence  conscience  ?  All  this  they  did  take  upon 
them  and  perform.  What  a  number  of  sins  did  they 
manage  at  once  !  What  difficulties  did  they  set  upon  ! 
Even  the  conquering  the  power  of  reason  itself.  What 
dangers  did  they  adventure  on !  Though  they  walked 
in  continual  danger  of  the  wrath  of  God,  and  knew  he 
could  lay  them  in  the  dust  in  a  moment ;  though  they  knew 
they  lived  in  danger  of  eternal  perdition,  yet  would  they 
run  upon  all  this.  What  did  they  forsake  for  the  ser- 
vice of  Satan,  and  the  pleasures  of  sin  1  They  forsook 
their  God,  their  conscience,  their  best  friends,  their 
hopes  of  salvation. 

O  the  labour  that  it  costeth  poor  wretches  to  be 
damned !  Sobriety  they  might  have  at  a  cheaper  rate, 
and  a  great  deal  of  health  and  ease  too  ;  and  yet  they 
will  rather  have  gluttony  and  drunkenness,  with  poverty, 
and  shame,  and  sickness,  with  the  outcries  and  lamenta- 
tions of  wife,  and  children,  and  conscience  itself.  Con- 
tentedness  they  might  have,  with  ease  and  delight :  yet 
will  they  rather  have  covetousness  and  ambition ;  though 
it  cost  them  study,  and  cares,  and  fears,  and  labour  of 
body  and  m.ind,  and  continual  unquietness,  and  destruc- 
tion of  spirit.  Though  their  anger  be  nothing  but  a 
tormenting  themselves,  and  revenge  and  envy  consume 
their  spirits,  and  keep  them  upon  a  continual  rack ; 
though  uncleanness  destroy  their  bodies,  and  estates, 
and  names  ;  yet  will  they  do  and  suffer  all  this,  rather 
than  suffer  their  souls  to  be  saved. 

O  how  the  reviews  of  this  will  feed  the  flames  in  hell ! 
With  what  rage  will  these  damned  wretches  curse  them- 
selves, and  say.  Was  damnation  worth  all  this  cost  and 
pains  ?  Was  it  not  enough  that  I  perished  through  my 
negligence,  and  that  I  sat  still  while  Satan  played  his 
game,  but  I  must  seek  so  diligently  my  own  perdition  ? 
Might  I  not  have  been  damned  on  free  cost,  but  I  must 
purchase  it  so  dearly  ?  I  thought  I  could  have  been 
saved  without  so  much  ado :  and  could  I  not  have  been 
destroyed  without  so  much  ado  ?  How  well  is  all  my 
care,  and  pains,  and  violence,  now  requited  !  Must  I 
work  out  so  laboriously  my  own  damnation,  when  God 
commanded  me  to  work  out  my  salvation  ?     O,  if  I  had 


THE   SAINTS     EVERLASTING   REST.  89 

done  as  much  for  heaven  as  I  did  for  hell,  I  liad  surely- 
had  it.  I  cried  out  of  the  tedious  way  of  godliness  ; 
and  yet  I  could  be  at  more  pains  for  Satan,  and  for 
death.  If  I  had  loved  Christ  as  strongly  as  I  did  my 
pleasures,  and  profits,  and  honours,  and  thought  on  him 
as  often,  and  sought  him  as  painfully,  O  how  happy  had 
I  now  been  !  But  justly  do  I  suffer  the  flames  of  hell, 
who  would  rather  buy  them  so  dear,  than  have  heaven 
when  it  was  purchased  to  my  hands. 

Thus  I  have  showed  you  some  of  those  thoughts 
which  will  aggravate  the  misery  of  these  wretches  for 
ever.  O  that  God  would  persuade  thee,  who  readest 
these  words,  to  take  up  these  thoughts  now,  for  the  pre- 
venting that  inconceivable  calamity,  so  that  thou  may- 
est  not  take  them  up  in  hell  as  thy  own  tormentor. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THEY  SHALL  LOSE  ALL  THINGS  THAT  ARE  COMFORTABLE,  AS  WELL 
AS  HEAVEN. 

Having  showed  you  those  considerations  which  will 
then  aggravate  their  misery,  I  am  next  to  show  you  their 
additional  losses,  which  will  aggravate  it.  For  as  "  god- 
liness hath  the  promise  both  of  this  life,  and  that  which 
is  to  come  ;"  and  as  God  hath  said,  "  That  if  we  first 
seek  his  kingdom  and  righteousness,  all  things  else  shall 
be  added  to  us ;"  so  also  are  the  ungodly  threatened 
with  the  loss  both  of  spiritual  and  of  corporal  blessings  ; 
and  because  they  sought  not  first  Christ's  kingdom  and 
righteousness,  therefore  shall  they  lose  both  it,  and  that 
which  they  did  seek,  and  there  shall  be  taken  from  them 
even  that  little  which  they  have.  If  they  could  but  have 
kept  their  present  enjoyments,  they  would  not  have 
much  cared  for  the  los-s  of  heaven  :  but  catching  at  the 
shadow  for  the  substance,  they  now  find  they  have  lost 
both  ;  and  that  when  they  rejected  Christ,  they  rejected 
all  things.  If  they  had  lost  and  forsaken  all  for  Christ, 
they  would  have  found  all  again  in  him  ;  for  he  would 
have  been  all  in  all  to  them  :   but  now  they  have  for- 


90  THE   SAINTS     EVERLASTING   REST. 

saken  Christ  for  other  things,  they  shall  lose  Christ,  and 
that  also  for  which  they  did  forsake  him. 

But  I  will  particularly  open  to  you  some  of  their  other 
losses. 

1.  They  shall  lose  their  present  conceit  of  their 
interest  in  God,  and  of  his  favour  toward  them,  and 
of  their  part  in  the  merits  and  sufferings  of  Christ. 
This  false  belief  doth  now  support  their  spirits,  and 
defend  them  from  the  terrors  that  would  else  seize 
upon  them :  but  what  will  ease  their  trouble  when  this 
is  gone  ?  When  they  can  believe  no  longer,  they  will 
be  quiet  no  longer.  If  a  man  conceit  that  he  is  in 
safety,  his  conceit  may  make  him  cheerful  till  his 
misery  comes,  and  then  both  his  conceit  and  comforts 
vanish. 

There  is  none  of  this  believing  in  hell ;  nor  any  per- 
suasion of  pardon  or  happiness,  nor  any  boasting  of 
their  honesty,  nor  justifying  themselves.  This  was  but 
Satan's  stratagem,  that,  being  blindfold,  they  might  fol- 
low him  the  more  boldly  ;  but  then  he  will  uncover 
their  eyes,  and  they  shall  see  where  they  are. 

2.  Another  addition  to  the  misery  of  the  damned  will 
be  this  :  that  Avith  the  loss  of  heaven,  they  shall  lose  all 
their  hopes.  In  this  life,  though  they  were  threatened 
with  the  wrath  of  God,  yet  their  hope  of  escaping  it  did 
bear  up  their  hearts.  We  can  now  scarce  speak  with 
the  vilest  drunkard,  or  swearer,  or  scorner,  but  he  hopes 
to  be  saved  for  all  this.  O  happy  world  !  if  salvation 
were  as  common  as  this  hope ;  even  those  whose  hellish 
nature  is  written  in  the  face  of  their  conversation,  whose 
tongues  plead  the  cause  of  the  devil,  and  speak  the  lan- 
guage of  hell,  yet  strongly  hope  for  heaven  ;  though 
the  God  of  heaven  hath  told  them  no  such  shall  ever 
come  there.  Nay,  so  strong  are  men's  hopes,  that  they 
will  dispute  the  cause  with  Christ  himself  at  judgment, 
and  plead  "  their  eating  and  drinking  in  his  presence, 
their  preaching  in  his  name,  and  casting  out  devils  ;" 
(and  these  are  more  probable  arguments  than  our  bap- 
tism, and  common  profession  and  name  of  Christians  ;) 
they  will  stiffly  deny  that  ever  they  "neglected  Christ 
in  hunger,  nakedness,  or  prison,"  till  Christ  confute 
them  with  the  sentence  of  their  condemnation.     Though 


THE   saints'   everlasting  REST.  91 

the  heart  of  their  hopes  will  be  broken  at  their  death  ; 
yet,  it  seems,  they  would  fain  plead  for  such  hope  at  the 
general  judgment. 

But,  O  the  sad  state  of  these  men,  when  they  must  bid 
farewell  to  all  their  hopes  !  when  their  hopes  shall  all 
perish  with  them  !  "  The  eyes  of  the  wicked  shall  fail, 
and  their  hope  shall  be  as  the  giving  up  of  the  ghost." 
The  giving  up  of  the  ghost  is  a  Jfit,  but  terrible,  resem- 
blance of  a  wicked  man's  giving  up  his  hopes. 

For,  first,  As  the  soul  departeth  not  from  the  body 
without  the  greatest  pain,  so  doth  the  hope  of  the  wick- 
ed depart.  O  the  pangs  that  seize  upon  the  soul  of  the 
sinner  at  death  and  judgment,  when  he  is  parting  with 
all  his  hopes ! 

Secondly,  The  soul  departeth  from  the  body  sud- 
denly, in  a  moment,  which  hath  there  delightfully  con- 
tinued so  many  years  ;  just  so  doth  the  hope  of  the 
wicked  depart. 

Thirdly,  The  soul  which  then  departed  will  never 
return  to  live  with  the  body  in  this  world  any  more  ; 
and  the  hope  of  tl.e  wicked,  when  it  departeth,  taketh 
an  everlasting  farewell  of  his  soul.  A  miracle  of  resur- 
rection shall  again  conjoin  the  soul  and  body,  but  there 
shall  be  no  such  miraculous  resurrection  of  the  damned's 
hope. 

Methinks  it  is  the  most  doleful  spectacle  that  this 
world  affords,  to  see  an  ungodly  person  dying ;  his  soul 
and  hopes  departing  together  !  With  what  a  sad  change 
he  appears  in  another  world  !  Then  if  a  man  could  but 
speak  with  that  hopeless  soul,  and  ask  it,  Are  you  now 
as  confident  of  salvation  as  you  were  wont  to  be  ?  Do 
you  now  hope  to  be  saved  as  soon  as  the  most  godly  ? 
O  what  a  sad  answer  would  he  return  ! 

O  that  careless  sinners  would  be  awakened  to  think 
of  this  in  time  !  If  thou  be  one  of  them,  who  art  reading 
these  lines,  I  do  here,  as  a  friend,  advise  thee,  that  as 
thou  wouldst  not  have  all  thy  hopes  deceive  thee,  when 
thou  hast  most  need,  thou  presently  try  them,  whether 
they  will  prove  current  at  the  touchstone  of  the  Scrip- 
ture ;  and  if  thou  find  them  unsound,  let  them  go,  what- 
soever sorrow  they  cost  thee.  Rest  not  till  thou  canst 
give  a  reason  of  all  thy  hopes  ;  till  thou  canst  prove 


93  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

that  they  are  the  hopes  which  grace,  and  not  nature, 
haih  wrought ;  that  they  are  grounded  upon  Scripture 
promises  ;  that  they  purify  thy  heart;  that  they  quicken, 
and  not  cool,  thy  endeavours  in  godliness  ;  that  the  more 
thou  hopest,  the  less  thou  sinnest,  and  the  more  painful 
thou  art  in  following  on  the  work,  and  not  grown  more 
loose  and  careless  by  the  increasing  of  thy  hopes  ;  that 
thou  art  willing  to  have  them  tried,  and  fearful  of  being 
deceived  ;  that  they  stir  up  thy  desires  of  enjoying  what 
thou  hopest  for,  and  the  deferring  thereof  is  the  trouble 
of  thy  heart. 

There  is  a  hope  which  is  a  singular  grace  and  duty ; 
and  there  is  a  hope  which  is  a  notorious,  dangerous  sin : 
so,  consequently,  there  is  a  despair  which  is  a  grievous 
sin  ;  and  there  is  a  despair  which  is  absolutely  necessary 
to  thy  salvation. 

I  would  not  have  thee  despair  of  the  sufficiency  of  the 
blood  of  Christ  to  save  thee,  if  thou  believe  and  heartily 
obey  him  ;  nor  of  the  willingness  of  God  to  pardon  and 
save  thee,  if  thou  be  such  a  one;  nor  yet  absolutely  of 
thy  own  salvation,  because  while  there  is  life  and  time 
there  is  hope  of  thy  conversion,  and  so  of  thy  salvation ; 
nor  would  I  draw  thee  to  despair  of  finding  Christ,  if 
thou  do  but  heartily  seek  him :  but  this  is  the  despair 
that  I  would  persuade  thee  to,  as  thou  lovest  thy  soul ; — 
that  thou  despair  of  ever  being  saved,  except  thou  be 
born  again  ;  or  of  seeing  God,  without  holiness  ;  or  es- 
caping perishing,  except  thou  suddenly  repent;  or  of 
ever  having  part  in  Christ,  except  thou  love  him  above 
father,  mother,  or  thy  own  life  ;  or  of  ever  truly  loving 
God,  or  being  his  servant,  while  thou  lovest  the  world, 
and  servest  it. 

These  things  I  would  have  thee  despair  of,  and  what- 
ever else  God  hath  told  thee  shall  never  come  to  pass. 
And  when  thou  hast  sadly  searched  into  thy  own  heart, 
and  findest  thyself  in  any  of  these  cases,  I  would  have 
thee  despair  of  ever  being  saved  in  that  state  thou  art  in. 
This  kind  of  despair  is  one  of  the  first  steps  to  heaven. 

Consider,  if  a  man  be  quite  out  of  his  way,  what  must 
be  the  first  means  to  bring  him  in  again  ?  Why,  a  de- 
spair of  ever  coming  to  his  journey's  end  in  the  way  that 
he  is  in.     If  his  home  be  eastward,  and  he  be  going 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  93 

westward,  as  long  as  he  hopes  he  is  in  the  right,  he  will 
go  on  ;  and  as  long  as  he  goes  on  hoping,  he  goes  far- 
ther amiss.  Therefore,  when  he  meets  with  somebody 
that  assures  him  that  he  is  clean  out  of  his  way,  and 
brings  him  to  despair  of  coming  home  except  he  turn 
back  again,  then  he  will  return,  and  then  he  may  hope. 

Why,  sinner,  just  so  it  is  with  thy  soul ;  thou  art  out 
of"  the  way  to  heaven,  and  in  that  way  thou  hast  pro- 
ceeded many  a  year ;  yet  thou  goest  on  quietly,  and 
hopest  to  be  saved,  because  thou  art  not  so  bad  as  many 
others.  Why,  I  tell  thee,  except  thou  throw  away  these 
hopes,  and  see  that  thou  hast  all  this  while  been  quite 
out  of  the  way  to  heaven  :  I  say,  till  thou  be  brought  to 
this,  thou  wilt  never  return  and  be  saved.  Who  will 
turn  out  of  his  way  while  he  hopes  he  is  right  ?  Re- 
member what  I  say  ; — till  thou  feel  God  convincing  thee, 
that  the  way  thou  hast  lived  in  will  not  serve  thy  turn, 
and  so  break  down  thy  former  hopes,  there  is  yet  no 
saving  work  wrought  upon  thee,  how  well  soever  thou 
mayest  hope  of  thyself.  Yea,  thus  much  more,  if  any 
thing  keep  thy  soul  out  of  heaven,  there  is  nothing  in 
the  world  likelier  to  do  it  than  thy  false  hopes  of  being 
saved,  while  thou  art  out  of  the  way  to  salvation. 

3.  Another  additional  loss,  aggravating  their  loss  of 
heaven,  is  this,  they  shall  lose  all  their  carnal  mirth  ; 
they  will  say  to  themselves,  (as  Solomon  doth,)  "  of 
their  laughter,  thou  art  mad  ;  and  of  their  mirth,  what 
didst  thou  ?"  Eccles.  ii,  2.  Their  pleasant  conceits  are 
then  ended,  and  their  merry  tales  are  all  told ;  "  their 
mirth  was  but  as  the  crackling  of  thorns  under  a  pot," 
Eccles.  vii,  6.  It  made  a  blaze  for  a  while,  but  it  was 
presently  gone,  and  will  return  no  more.  They  scorned 
to  entertain  any  saddening  thoughts  :  the  talk  of  death 
and  judgment  was  irksome  to  them,  because  it  damped 
their  mirth  :  they  could  not  endure  to  think  of  their  sin 
or  danger,  because  these  thoughts  did  sad  their  spirits  : 
they  knew  not  what  it  was  to  weep  for  sin,  or  to  humble 
themselves  under  the  mighty  hand  of  God :  they  could 
laugh  away  sorrow,  and  sing  away  cares,  and  drive  away 
these  melancholy  thoughts  :  they  thought  if  they  should 
meditate,  and  pray,  and  mourn,  as  the  godly  do,  their 
lives  would  be  a  continual  misery. 


94  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

Alas,  poor  souls  !  what  a  misery  then  will  that  life 
be,  where  you  shall  have  nothing  but  sorrow  ;  intense, 
heart-piercing,  multiplied  sorrow  ?  When  you  shall  have 
neither  the  joys  of  the  saints,  nor  your  own  former  joys  ? 
Do  you  think  there  is  one  merry  heart  in  hell  ?  or  one 
joyful  countenance,  or  jesting  tongue  ?  You  cry  now, 
*'  A  little  mirth  is  worth  a  great  deal  of  sorrow  :"  but 
surely  a  little  godly  sorrow,  which  would  have  ended  in 
eternal  joy,  had  been  more  worth  than  a  great  deal  of 
your  foolish  mirth,  which  will  end  in  sorrow. 

4.  Another  additional  loss  will  be  this  :  they  shall  lose 
all  their  sensual  delights  ;  that  which  they  esteemed 
their  chief  good,  their  heaven,  their  false  god,  must  they 
lose,  as  well  as  God  himself. 

O  what  a  fall  will  the  proud  ambitious  man  have  from 
the  top  of  his  honours  !  As  his  dust  and  bones  will  not 
be  known  from  the  dust  and  bones  of  the  poorest  beg- 
gars, so  neither  will  his  soul  be  honoured  or  favoured 
any  more  than  theirs.  What  a  number  of  the  great, 
noble,  and  learned,  are  now  shut  out  of  the  presence  of 
Christ !  They  are  shut  out  of  their  well  contrived 
houses,  and  sumptuous  buildings  ;  their  comely  cham- 
bers, with  costly  hangings  ;  their  soft  beds,  and  easy 
couches.  They  shall  not  find  their  gallant  walks,  their 
curiou^  gardens  with  variety  of  beauteous  fruits  and 
flowers,  their  rich  pastures,  and  pleasant  meadows,  and 
plenteous  harvest,  and  flocks,  and  herds.  Their  tables 
will  not  be  so  spread  and  furnished,  nor  they  so  punctu- 
ally attended  and  observed.  They  have  not  their  va- 
riety of  dainty  fare,  oi  several  courses,  to  please  their 
appetites  to  the  full.  The  rich  man  there  fareth  not  de- 
liciously  every  day,  neither  shall  he  wear  there  his  pur- 
ple and  fine  linen. 

O  that  sinners  would  remember  this  in  the  midst  of 
their  jollity,  and  say  to  one  another.  We  must  shortly 
reckon  for  this.  Will  the  remembrance  of  it  then  be 
comfortable  or  terrible  ?  Will  these  delights  accompany 
us  to  another  world  ?  How  shall  we  look  each  other  in 
the  face,  if  we  meet  in  hell  ?  Will  not  the  memorial  of 
them  be  then  our  torment  ?  Come,  as  we  have  sinned 
together,  let  us  pray  together  before  we  stir,  that  God 
would  pardon  us,  and  let  us  enter  into  a  promise  with 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  95 

one  another  that  we  will  do  thus  no  more,  but  will  meet 
together  in  the  worship  of  God,  and  help  one  another 
toward  heaven,  as  oft  as  we  have  met  for  our  sinful  mer- 
riments, in  helping  to  deceive  and  destroy  each  other. 
This  would  be  the  way  to  prevent  this  sorrow,  and  a 
course  that  would  comfort  you  when  you  look  back 
upon  it  hereafter. 


CHAFfER  IV. 

THE  GREATNESS  OP  THE  TORMENTS   OF  THE   DAMNED  DISCOVERED. 

Having  thus  showed  you  how  great  their  loss  is  who 
are  shut  out  of  rest,  and  how  it  will  be  aggravated  by 
those  additional  losses  which  will  accompany  it;  I 
should  next  here  show  you  the  greatness  of  those  posi- 
tive sufferings  which  will  accompany  this  loss.  But  I 
will  not  meddle  with  the  quality  of  those  sufferings,  but 
only  show  their  greatness  in  some  few  discoveries,  lest 
the  careless  sinner,  while  he  hears  of  no  other  punish- 
ment but  that  of  loss,  should  think  he  can  bear  that  well 
enough.  That  there  are  besides  the  loss  of  happiness, 
actual,  sensible  torments  for  the  damned,  is  a  matter 
beyond  all  doubt ;  and  that  they  will  be  exceeding  great, 
may  appear  by  these  arguments  following : — 

1.  From  the  principal  author  of  them,  which  is  God 
himself:  as  it  was  no  less  than  God  whom  the  sinners 
had  offended,  so  it  is  no  less  than  God  that  will  punish 
them  for  their  offences.  He  hath  prepared  those  tor- 
ments for  his  enemies.  His  continued  anger  will  still 
be  devouring  them.  His  breath  of  indignation  will 
kindle  the  flames.  His  wrath  will  be  an  intolerable 
burden  to  their  souls.  If  it  were  but  a  creature  that 
they  had  to  do  with,  they  might  better  bear  it.  But  wo 
to  him  that  falls  under  the  strokes  of  the  Almighty ! 
They  shall  feel  to  their  soirow  "that  it  is  a  fearful 
thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  living  God."  It  were 
nothing  in  comparison  to  this,  if  all  the  world  were 
against  them,  or  if  the  strength  of  all  the  creatures  were 
united  in  one  to  inflict  their  penalty.    What  a  consuming 


96  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

fire  is  his  wrath !  "  If  it  be  kindled  here,  and  that  but 
a  little,"  how  do  we  wither  before  it,  "  as  the  grass  that 
is  cut  down  before  the  sun  !"  How  soon  doth  our 
strength  decay,  and  turn  to  weakness,  and  our  beauty  to 
deformity  !  The  flames  do  not  so  easily  run  through  the 
dry  stubble,  as  the  wrath  of  God  will  feed  upon  these 
wretches.  O,  they  that  could  not  bear  a  prison,  or  a 
gibbet  for  Christ,  scarce  a  few  scorns,  how  will  they 
now  bear  the  devouring  fire ! 

2.  The  place  or  state  of  torment  is  purposely  or- 
dained for  the  glorifying  God's  justice.  As  all  the 
works  of  God  are  great  and  wonderful,  so  those,  above 
all,  which  are  specially  intended  for  the  eminent  advan- 
cing of  some  of  his  attributes.  When  he  will  glorify 
his  power,  he  makes  the  worlds.  The  comely  order  of 
all  and  singular  creatures  declares  his  wisdom.  His 
providence  is  shown  in  sustaining  all  things,  and  main- 
taining order,  and  attending  his  excellent  ends,  among 
the  confused,  perverse,  tumultuous  agitations  of  a  world 
of  wicked,  foolish,  self-destroying  miscreants.  When 
a  spark  of  his  wrath  doth  kindle  upon  the  earth,  the 
whole  world,  save  only  eight  persons  are  drowned ; 
Sodom,  Gomorrah,  Admah,  and  Zeboim,  are  burned 
with  fire  from  heaven  to  ashes  ;  the  sea  shuts  her  mouth 
upon  some  ;  the  earth  doth  open  and  swallow  others ; 
the  pestilence  destroyeth  them  by  thousands.  The 
present  deplorable  state  of  the  Jews  may  fully  testify 
this  to  the  world.  And  yet  the  glorifying  of  the  two 
great  attributes  of  mercy  and  justice  is  intended  most 
eminently  for  the  life  to  come.  As,  therefore,  when  God 
will  purposely  glorify  his  mercy,  he  will  do  it  in  a  way 
that  is  now  beyond  the  comprehension  of  the  saints  that 
must  enjoy  it ;  so  that  the  blood  of  his  Son,  and  the 
enjoyment  of  himself  immediately  in  glory,  shall  not  be 
thought  too  high  an  honour  for  them  :  so,  also,  when  the 
time  comes  that  he  will  purposely  manifest  his  justice, 
it  shall  appear  to  be  indeed  the  justice  of  God.  The 
everlasting  flames  of  hell  will  not  be  thought  too  hot 
for  the  rebellious :  and  when  they  have  there  burned 
through  millions  of  ages,  he  will  not  repent  him  of  the 
evil  which  is  befallen  them.  O,  wo  to  the  soul  that  is 
thus  set  up  for  a  butt  for  the  wrath  of  the  Almighty  to 


THE  saints'   everlasting  REST.  97 

shoot  at !  and  for  a  bush  that  must  burn  in  the  flames 
of  his  jealousy,  and  never  be  consumed ! 

3.  Consider  who  shall  be  God's  executioners  of  their 
torment :  and  that  is,  first,  Satan  ;  secondly,  themselves. 
First,  he  that  was  here  so  successful  in  drawing  them 
from  Christ,  will  then  be  the  instrument  of  their  punish- 
ment for  yielding  to  his  temptations.  It  was  a  pitiful 
sight  to  see  the  man  possessed,  that  was  bound  with 
chains,  and  lived  among  tombs  ;  and  that  other  that 
would  be  cast  into  the  fire,  and  into  the  water :  but 
alas  !  that  was  nothing  to  the  torment  that  Satan  puts 
them  to  in  hell :  that  is  the  reward  he  will  give  them  for 
all  their  service ;  for  their  rejecting  the  commands  of 
God,  and  forsaking  Christ,  and  neglecting  their  souls  at 
his  persuasion.  Ah,  if  they  had  served  Christ,  as  faith- 
fully as  they  did  Satan,  he  would  have  given  them  a 
better  reward.  Secondly,  and  it  is  most  just  also,  that 
they  should  there  be  their  own  tormentors,  that  they 
may  see  that  their  whole  destruction  is  of  themselves  : 
and  they  who  were  wilfully  the  meritorious  cause, 
should  also  be  the  efficient  in  their  own  sufferings  ;  and 
then  whom  can  they  complain  of  but  themselves  ? 

4.  Consider  also  that  their  torment  will  be  universal, 
not  upon  one  part  alone,  while  the  rest  are  free ;  but  as 
all  have  joined  in  the  sin,  so  must  all  partake  of  the 
torment.  The  soul,  as  it  was  the  chief  in  sinning,  shall 
be  the  chief  in  suffering :  and  as  it  is  of  a  more  sj^iritual 
and  excellent  nature  than  bodies  are,  so  will  its  torments 
far  exceed  bodily  sufferings.  And  as  the  joys  of  the 
soul  far  surpass  all  sensual  pleasures,  so  the  pains  of  the 
soul  surpass  corporal  pains. 

And  it  is  not  only  a  soul,  but  a  sinful  soul,  that  must 
suffer  :  the  guilt  which  stUl  remains  upon  it  will  make 
it  fit  for  the  wrath  of  God  to  work  upon.  As  fire  will 
not  burn,  except  the  fuel  be  combustible;  but  if  the 
wood  be  dry,  how  fiercely  will  it  burn  then  !  The  guilt 
of  their  sins  will  be  as  tinder  to  gunpowder  to  the 
damned  soul,  to  make  the  flames  of  hell  take  hold  upon 
them  with  fury. 

And  as  the  soul,  so  also  the  body,  must  bear  its  part. 
That   body   that   must  needs   be   pleased,   whatsoever 
became  of  its  eternal  safety,  shall  now  be  paid  for  its 
5 


98  THE   saints'   everlasting   RESTc 

unla\Yful  pleasures.  That  body  which  was  so  carefully 
looked  to,  so  tenderly  cherished  ;  that  body  which  could 
not  endure  heat  or  cold,  or  an  ill  smell,  or  a  loathsome 
sight :  O  what  must  it  now  endure  !  How  are  its 
haughty  looks  now  taken  down  !  how  little  will  those 
flames  regard  its  comeliness  and  beauty  !  But  as  death 
did  not  regard  it,  nor  the  worms  regard  it,  but  as  freely 
fed  upon  the  face  of  the  proud  and  lustful  dames,  and 
the  heart  of  the  most  ambitious  lords  and  princes,  as  if 
they  had  been  but  beggars  ;  so  will  their  tormentors 
then  as  little  pity  their  tenderness,  or  reverence  their 
lordliness.  Those  eyes  which  were  wont  to  be  delighted 
with  curious  sio;hts,  must  then  see  nothing  but  what  shall 
amaze  and  terrify  them  ;  an  angry  God  above  them,  and 
those  saints  whom  they  scorned,  enjoying  the  glory 
Avhich  they  have  lost;  and  about  them  will  be  only 
devils  and  damned  souls.  Ah  !  then  how  sadly  will  they 
look  back  and  say.  Are  all  our  feasts,  our  games,  and 
revels  come  to  this  !  Then  those  ears  which  were  wont 
to  be  delighted  with  music,  shall  hear  the  shrieks  and 
cries  of  their  damned  companions  ;  children  crying  out 
against  their  parents  that  gave  them  encouragement  and 
example  in  evil ;  husbands  crying  out  upon  their  wives, 
and  Avives  upon  their  husbands ;  masters  and  servants 
cursing  each  other ;  ministers  and  people,  magistrates 
and  subjects,  charging  their  misery  upon  one  another, 
for  discouraging  in  duty,  conniving  at  sin,  and  being 
silent  or  formal  when  they  should  have  plainly  told  one 
another  of  their  misery,  and  forewarned  them  of  their 
danger.  Thus  will  soul  and  body  be  companions  in 
calamity. 

5.  And  the  greater  by  far  will  their  torments  be, 
because  they  shall  have  no  comfort  left  to  mitigate  them. 
In  this  life,  when  a  minister  told  them  of  hell,  or  con- 
science began  to  trouble  their  peace,  they  had  comforts 
enough  at  hand  to  relieve  them  :  their  carnal  friends 
were  all  ready  to  comfort  them  ;  but  now  they  have  not 
a  word  of  comfort,  either  for  him  or  themselves.  For- 
merly they  had  their  business,  their  company,  their 
mirth,  to  drive  away  their  fears  ;  they  could  drink  away 
their  sorrows,  or  play  them  away,  or  sleep  them  away, 
or  at  least,  time  did  wear  them  away ;  but  now  all  these 


99 

remedies  are  vanished.  They  had  a  hard,  a  presump- 
tuous, unbelieving  heart,  which  was  a  wall  to  defend 
them  against  troubles  of  mind  ;  but  now  their  experi- 
ence hath  banished  these,  and  left  them  naked  to  the 
fury  of  those  flames.  Yea,  formerly  Satan  himself  was 
their  comforter,  and  would  unsay  all  that  the  minister 
said  against  them,  as  he  did  to  our  first  mother  :  "  Hath 
God  said.  Ye  shall  not  eat  ?  Ye  shall  not  surely  die.'* 
So  doth  he  now.  Doth  God  tell  you  that  you  shall  lie 
in  hell?  It  is  no  such  matter;  God  is  more  merciful: 
he  doth  but  tell  you  so  to  fright  you  from  sinning :  or  if 
there  be  a  hell,  what  need  you  fear  it  ?  Are  not  you 
Christians  ?  and  shall  you  not  be  saved  by  Christ  ?  Was 
not  his  blood  shed  for  you  ?  Ministers  may  tell  you 
what  they  please ;  they  would  make  men  believe  that 
they  shall  all  be  damned  except  they  will  fit  themselves 
to  their  humour.  Thus,  as  the  Spirit  of  Christ  is  the 
comforter  of  the  saints,  so  Satan  is  the  comforter  of  the 
wicked :  for  he  knows  if  he  should  now  disquiet  them, 
they  would  no  longer  serve  him:  or  if  fears  or  doubts 
should  trouble  them,  they  would  bethink  themselves  of 
their  danger.  Never  was  a  thief  more  careful  lest  he 
should  awake  the  people,  when  he  is  robbing  the  house, 
than  Satan  is,  not  to  awaken  a  sinner.  But  when  the 
sinner  is  dead,  and  he  hath  his  prey,  then  he  hath  done 
flattering  and  comforting  them.  While  the  sight  of  sin 
and  misery  might  have  helped  to  save  them,  he  took  all 
the  pains  he  could  to  hide  it  from  their  eyes  ;  but  when 
it  is  too  late,  and  there  is  no  hope  left,  he  will  make 
them  see  and  feel  to  the  utmost.  O,  which  way  will  the 
forlorn  sinner  then  look  for  comfort !  They  that  drew 
him  into  the  snare,  and  promised  him  safety,  now  for- 
sake him,  and  are  forsaken  themselves.  His  ancient 
comforts  are  taken  from  him,  and  the  righteous  God, 
v.'hoso  forewarning  he  made  light  of,  will  now  make 
good  his  word  against  him  to  the  least  tittle. 

6.  But  the  great  aggravation  of  this  misery  will  be  its 
eternity — that  when  a  thousand  millions  of  ages  are 
past,  their  torments  arc  as  fresh  to  begin  as  at  the  first 
day.  If  there  were  any  hope  of  an  end,  it  would  ease 
them  to  foresee  it ;  but  when  it  must  be  for  ever  so  that 
thought  is  intolerable:   much  more  will   the  misery 


100  THE   saints'   everlasting  REST. 

itself  be.  They  never  heartily  repented  of  their  sin, 
and  God  will  never  repent  him  of  their  suffering.  They 
broke  the  laws  of  the  eternal  God,  and  therefore  shall 
suffer  eternal  punishment.  They  knew  it  was  an  ever- 
lasting kingdom  which  they  refused  ;  and  therefore  what 
wonder  if  they  be  everlastingly  shut  out  of  it?  It  was 
their  immortal  souls  that  were  guilty  of  the  trespass, 
and  therefore  must  immortally  suffer  the  pains.  What 
happy  men  would  they  think  themselves,  if  they  might 
have  lain  still  in  their  graves,  or  continued  dust,  or  suf- 
fered no  worse  than  the  gnawing  of  those  worms  !  O 
that  they  might  but  there  lie  down  again  !  What  a 
mercy  now  would  it  be  to  die  ?  And  how  will  they  call 
and  cry  out  for  it  ?  O  death  !  whither  art  thou  gone? 
3Vow  come  and  cut  off  this  doleful  life.  O  that  these 
pains  would  break  my  heart,  and  end  my  being  !  O 
that  I  might  once  die  at  last !  O  that  I  had  never  had  a 
being !  These  groans  will  the  thoughts  of  eternity 
wring  from  their  hearts.  They  were  wont  to  think  the 
sermon  long,  and  prayer  long  ;  how  long  then  will  they 
think  these  endless  torments  ?  What  difference  is  there 
betwixt  the  length  of  their  j^leasures  and  of  their  pains  ? 
The  one  continueth  but  a  moment,  the  other  endureth 
through  all  eternity.  O  that  sinners  would  lay  this 
thought  to  heart.  Remember  how  time  is  almost  gone. 
Thou  art  standing  all  this  while  at  the  door  of  eternity, 
and  death  is  waiting  to  open  the  door  and  put  thee  in. 
Go  sleep  out  but  a  few  more  nights,  and  stir  up  and 
down  on  earth  a  few  more  days,  and  then  thy  nights  and 
days  shall  end :  thy  thoughts,  and  cares,  and  pleasures, 
and  all,  shall  be  devoured  by  eternity :  thou  must  enter 
upon  the  state  which  shall  never  be  changed.  As  the 
joys  of  heaven  are  beyond  our  conceiving,  so  also  are 
the  pains  of  hell.  Everlasting  torment  is  inconceivable 
torment. 

But  methinks  I  perceive  the  obstinate  sinner  despe- 
rately resolving.  If  I  must  be  damned,  there  is  no  reme- 
dy ;  rather  than  I  will  live  so  precisely,  I  will  put  it  to 
the  venture  ;  I  shall  escape  as  well  as  the  rest  of  my 
neighbours,  and  we  will  even  bear  it  as  well  as  we  can. 
Alas,  poor  creature  !  would  thou  didst  but  know  what  it 
is  that  thou  dost  so  boldly  venture  on  :  I  dare  say  thou 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  101 

wouldst  sleep  this  night  but  very  unquietly.  Wilt  thou 
leave  thyself  no  room  for  hope  ?  Art  thou  such  an  im- 
placable enemy  to  Christ  and  thy  own  soul  ?  And  dost 
thou  think,  indeed,  that  thou  canst  bear  the  wrath  of 
God,  and  go  away  so  easily  with  these  eternal  torments  ? 
Yet  let  me  beg  this  of  thee,  that  before  thou  dost  so 
flatly  resolve,  thou  wouldst  lend  thine  attention  to  these 
few  questions  : 

First,  Who  art  thou  that  thou  shouldst  bear  the  wrath 
of  God  !  Art  thou  a  god ;  or  art  thou  a  man  ?  What  is 
thy  strength,  to  undergo  so  much?  Is  it  not  as  the 
strength  of  wax  or  stubble  to  resist  the  fire  ?  or  as  chaff 
to  the  wind  ?  or  as  dust  before  the  whirlwind  ?  Was  he 
not  as  stout  a  man  as  thyself  who  cried  to  God,  "  Wilt 
thou  break  a  leaf  driven  to  and  fro  ?  And  wilt  thou  pur- 
sue the  dry  stubble  ?"  If  thy  strength  were  as  iron,  and 
thy  bones  as  brass,  thou  couldst  not  bear.  If  thy  found- 
ation were  as  the  earth,  and  thy  power  as  the  heavens, 
yet  sl*ouldst  thou  perish  at  the  breath  of  his  indignation. 
How  much  more  when  thou  art  but  a  little,  creeping, 
breathing  clay,  kept  a  few  days  from  stinking,  and  from 
being  eaten  with  worms,  by  the  mere  support  and  favour 
of  Him  whom  thou  thus  resistest  ? 

Secondly,  If  thou  be  so  strong,  and  thy  heart  so  stout, 
why  do  those  small  sufferings  so  dismay  thee?  If  thou 
have  but  a  fit  of  the  gout  or  stone,  what  groans  dost  thou 
utter?  The  house  is  filled  with  thy  complaints.  If 
thou  shouldst  but  lose  a  leg  or  an  arm,  thou  wouldst 
make  a  great  matter  of  it.  If  thou  lose  thine  estate,  and 
fatl  into  poverty  and  disgrace,  how  heavily  wouldst 
thou  bear  any  one  of  these  ?  And  yet  all  these  laid  to- 
gether will  be  one  day  accounted  a  happy  state,  in  com- 
parison of  that  which  is  suffered  in  hell.  Let  me  see 
thee  make  as  light  of  convulsive,  gouty,  rheumatic  pains, 
when  they  seize  upon  thee,  and  then  the  strength  of  thy 
spirit  will  appear.  Alas,  how  many  such  boasters  as 
thyself  have  I  seen  made  to  stoop,  and  eat  their  words ! 
And  when  God  hath  but  let  out  a  little  of  his  wrath,  that 
Pharaoh  who  before  asked,  "  Who  is  the  Lord  ?"  hath 
cried,  "  I  have  sinned." 

Thirdly,  If  all  this  be  nothing,  go  try  thy  strength  by 
some  corporal  torment ;  as  Bilney,  before  he  went  to 


102  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

the  stake,  would  first  try  his  finger  in  the  candle  :  so  do 
thou  ;  hold  thy  finger  awhile  in  the  fire,  and  feel  there 
whether  thou  canst  endure  the  fire  of  hell.  Austin 
mentioned  a  chaste  Christian  woman,  who,  being  tempted 
to  uncleanness  by  a  lewd  rufllian,  desired  him  for  her 
aake  to  hold  his  finger  one  hour  in  the  fire  ;  he  answer- 
ed, "  It  is  an  unreasonable  request."  "  How  much 
more  unreasonable  is  it,"  said  she,  "  that  I  should  burn 
in  hell  for  the  satisfying  your  lust  ?"  So  say  I  to  thee ; 
if  it  be  an  intolerable  thing  to  sufier  the  heat  of  the  fire 
for  a  year,  or  a  day,  or  an  hour,  what  will  it  be  to  suffer 
ten  thousand  times  more  for  ever  ?  What  if  thou  wert 
to  sufl^er  Lawrence's  death,  to  be  roasted  upon  a  grid- 
iron ;  or  to  be  scraped  or  pricked  to  death,  as  other 
martyrs  were  ?  If  thou  couldst  not  endure  such  things  as 
these,  how  wilt  thou  endure  the  eternal  flames  ? 

Fourthly,  If  thou  be  so  fearless  of  that  eternal  misery, 
why  is  the  least  foretaste  of  it  so  terrible !  Didst  thou 
never  feel  such  a  thing  as  a  tormenting  conscience? 
If  thou  hast  not,  thou  shalt  do.  Didst  thou  never  see 
and  speak  with  a  man  that  lived  in  desperation,  or  in 
some  degree  of  these  wounds  of  spirit  that  was  near  de- 
spair 1  How  uncomfortable  was  their  conference  !  How 
burdensome  their  lives  !  Nothing  doth  them  good  which 
they  possess  ;  the  sight  of  friends,  or  house,  or  goods, 
which  refresheth  others,  is  a  trouble  to  them :  they  feel 
no  sweetness  in  meat  or  drink ;  they  are  weary  of  life, 
and  fearful  of  death.  What  is  the  matter  with  these 
men  ?  If  the  misery  of  the  damned  itself  can  be  en- 
dured, why  cannot  they  more  easily  endure  these  litfle 
sparks  ? 

Fifthly,  Tell  me  faithfully,  what  if  thou  should st  but 
see  the  devil  appear  to  thee  in  some  terrible  shape, 
would  it  not  daunt  thee  ?  What  if  thou  shouldst  meet 
him  in  thy  way  home,  or  he  should  show  himself  to  thee 
at  night  in  thy  bedchamber,  would  not  thy  heart  fail 
thee,  and  thy  hair  stand  on  end  ?  I  could  name  thee 
those  that  have  been  as  confident  as  thyself,  who,  by 
such  a  sight,  have  been  so  appalled,  that  they  were  in 
danger  of  being  driven  out  of  their  wits.  Or  what  if 
some  damned  soul  of  thy  former  acquaintance  should 
appear  to  thee,  would  not  this  amaze  thee  ?     Alas !  what 


THE   saints'   everlasting  REST.  103 

is  this  to  the  torments  of  hell  ?  Canst  thou  not  endure 
a  shadow  to  appear  before  thee  ?  O  how  wilt  thou  en- 
dure to  live  with  them  for  ever,  where  thou  shalt  have 
no  other  company  but  devils  and  the  damned  ;  and  shalt 
not  only  see  them,  but  be  tormented  wdth  them  and  by 
them  ? 

Lastly,  Let  me  ask  thee,  if  the  wrath  of  God  be  to  be 
made  so  light  of,  why  did  the  Son  of  God  himself  make 
so  great  a  matter  of  it  ?  When  he  had  taken  upon  him 
the  payment  of  our  debt,  and  borne  that  punishment  we 
had  deserved,  it  makes  him  sweat  water  and  blood ;  it 
makes  the  Lord  of  life  to  cry,  "  My  soul  is  heavy,  even 
to  the  death."  It  makes  him  cry  out  upon  the  cross, 
*'My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?" 
Surely  if  any  one  could  have  borne  these  sufferings,  it 
would  have  been  Jesus  Christ.  He  had  another  mea- 
sure of  strength  to  bear  it  than  thou  hast. 

Wo  to  poor  sinners  for  their  mad  security  !  Do  they 
think  to  find  that  tolerable  to  them  which  was  so  heavy 
to  Christ?  Nay,  the  Son  of  God  is  cast  into  a  bitter 
agony,  and  bloody  sweat,  under  the  curse  of  the  law 
only  ;  and  yet  the  feeble,  foolish  creature  makes  nothing 
to  bear  also  the  curse  of  the  Gospel.  The  good  Lord 
bring  these  men  to  their  right  minds  by  repentance,  lest 
they  buy  their  wit  at  too  dear  a  rate. 

And  thus  I  have  shown  you  somewhat  of  their  misery, 
who  miss  of  this  rest  prepared  for  the  saints.  And  now, 
reader,  I  demand  thy  resolution,  what  use  thou  wilt 
make  of  all  this  ?  Shall  it  all  be  lost  to  thee  ?  or  wilt 
thou  consider  it  in  good  earnest  ?  Thou  hast  cast  by 
many  a  warning  of  God,  wilt  thou  do  so  by  this  also? 
Take  heed  what  thou  dost,  and  how  thou  resolvest.  God 
will  not  always  stand  warning  and  threatening.  The 
hand  of  revenge  is  lifted  up ;  the  blow  is  coming,  and 
wo  to  him  on  whom  it  lighteth.  Little  thinkest  thou 
hov/  near  thou  standest  to  thy  eternal  state,  and  how 
near  the  pit  thou  art  dancing  in  thy  jollity.  If  thy  eyes 
were  but  opened,  as  they  will  be  shortly,  thou  wouldst 
see  all  this  that  I  have  spoken  before  thine  eyes,  with- 
out stirring  from  the  place  in  which  thou  standest.  Dost 
thou  throw  by  the  book,  and  say.  It  speaks  of  nothing 
but  hell   and   damnation  ?      Thus   thou  usest   also   to 


104  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

complain  of  the  minister ;  but  wouldst  thou  not  have 
us  tell  thee  of  these  things  ?  Should  we  be  guilty  of 
the  blood  of  thy  soul,  by  keeping  silent  that  which 
God  hath  charged  us  to  make  known  ?  Wouldst  thou 
perish  in  ease  and  silence,  and  also  have  us  to  perish 
with  thee,  rather  than  displease  thee,  by  speaking 
the  truth?  If  thou  wilt  be  guilty  of  such  inhuman 
cruelty,  God  forbid  we  should  be  guilty  of  such  sottish 
folly  ! 

There  are  few  preachers  so  simple,  but  they  know  that 
this  kind  of  peaching  is  the  ready  way  to  be  hated  of 
their  hearers  ;  and  the  desire  of  the  favour  of  men  is  so 
natural,  that  few  delight  in  such  a  displeasing  way.  But 
I  beseech  thee,  consider,  are  these  things  true,  or  are 
they  not?  If  they  were  not  true,  I  would  heartily  join 
with  thee  against  any  minister  that  should  offer  to  preach 
them,  and  to  affright  poor  people  w^hen  there  is  no  cause. 
But  if  these  threatenings  be  the  word  of  God,  what  a 
wretch  art  thou  that  wouldst  not  hear  it,  or  consider  it. 
Why,  what  is  the  matter  ?  If  thou  be  sure  that  thou  art 
one  of  the  people  of  God,  this  doctrine  will  be  a  comfort 
to  thee :  but  if  thou  be  yet  unregenerate,  methinks  thou 
shouldst  be  as  fearful  to  hear  of  heaven  as  of  hell,  except 
the  bare  name  of  heaven  or  salvation  be  sufficient.  Sure 
there  is  no  doctrine  concerning  heaven  in  all  the  Scrip- 
ture that  can  give  thee  any  comfort,  but  upon  the  sup- 
posal  of  thy  conversion  ;  what  comfort  is  it  to  thee  to 
hear  that  there  is  a  rest  remaining  to  the  people  of  God, 
except  thou  be  one  of  them  ?  Nay,  what  more  terrible 
than  to  read  of  Christ  and  salvation  for  others,  when 
thou  must  be  shut  out  ?  Therefore,  except  thou  wouldst 
have  a  minister  to  preach  a  lie,  it  is  all  one  to  thee,  for 
any  comfort  thou  hast  in  it,  whether  he  preach  of  heaven 
or  hell  to  thee.  His  preaching  heaven  and  mercy  to 
thee,  can  be  nothing  else  but  to  entreat  thee  to  seek 
them ;  but  he  can  make  thee  no  promise  of  it,  but  upon 
condition  of  thy  obeying  the  Gospel ;  and  his  preaching 
hell,  is  but  to  persuade  thee  to  avoid  it.  And  is  not  this 
doctrine  fit  for  thee  to  hear  ?  Indeed  if  thou  wert  quite 
past  hope  of  escaping  it,  then  it  were  in  vain  to  tell  thee 
of  hell,  but  rather  let  thee  take  a  few  merry  hours  while 
thou  mayest ;  but  as  long  as  thou  art  alive,  there  is  hope 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  105- 

of  thy  recovery,  and  therefore  all  means  must  be  used 
to  av/aken  thee  from  thy  lethargy. 

O  that  some  son  of  thunder,  who  could  speak  as  Paul,, 
till  the  hearers  tremble,  were  now  to  preach  this  doc- 
trine to  thee !  Alas  !  as  terrible  as  you  think  I  speak, 
yet  it  is  not  the  thousandth  part  of  what  must  be  felt ; 
for  what  heart  can  now  conceive,  or  what  tongue  ex- 
press, the  pains  of  those  souls  that  are  under  the  wrath 
of  God  ?  Ah,  that  ever  blind  sinners  should  wilfully 
bring  themselves  to  such  unspeakable  misery  !  You 
will  then  be  crying  to  Jesus  Christ,  O  mercy  !  O  pity  ! 
Why  I  do  now,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  cry  to 
thee,  O  have  mercy,  have  pity  upon  thine  own  soul ! 
Shall  God  pity  thee,  who  wilt  not  be  entreated  to  pity 
thyself?  If  thy  horse  see  but  a  pit  before  him,  thou  canst 
scarcely  force  him  in ;  and  wilt  thou  so  obstinately  cast 
thyself  into  hell,  when  the  danger  is  foretold  thee  !  "  O 
who  can  stand  before  the  Lord,  and  who  can  abide  the 
fierceness  of  his  anger  !"  Methinks  thou  shouldst  need 
no  more  words,  but  presently  cast  away  thy  sins,  and 
deliver  up  thyself  to  Christ.  Resolve  on  it  immediately, 
and  let  it  be  done,  that  I  may  see  thy  face  in  rest  among 
the  saints.  The  Lord  persuade  thy  heart  to  it  without 
longer  delay :  but  if  thou  be  hardened  unto  death,  and 
there  be  no  remedy,  yet  do  not  say  another  day,  but 
that  thou  wast  faithfully  warned,  and  that  thou  hadst  a 
friend  that  would  fain  have  prevented  thy  damnation. 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  SECOND  USE   REPREHENDING  THE   GENERAL  NEGLECT  OF  THIS 
REST,  AND  EXCITING  TO  DILIGENCE  IN  SEEKING  IT. 

I  COME  now  to  the  second  use.  If  there  be  so  certain 
and  glorious  a  rest,  why  is  there  no  more  seeking  after 
it !  One  would  think  that  a  man  that  did  but  once  hear 
of  such  unspeakable  glory,  and  did  believe  what  he 
heareth  to  be  true,  should  be  transported  with  desire 
after  it,  should  almost  forget  to  eat  or  drink,  and  mind 
and  care  for  nothing  else,  and  speak  of  and  inquire  after 
nothing,  but  how  to  get  this  treasure !  And  yet  people 

5* 


106  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

who  hear  it  daily,  and  profess  to  believe  it,  do  as  little 
mind  it,  or  care,  or  labour  for  it,  as  if  they  had  never 
heard  of  any  such  thing,  or  did  not  believe  one  word 
that  they  hear. 

I  shall  apply  this  reproof  more  particularly  to  four 
sorts  of  men  :  First,  the  worldly  minded,  who  is  so  taken 
up  in  seeking  the  things  below,  that  he  hath  neither 
heart  nor  time  to  seek  this  rest. 

May  I  not  well  say  to  these  men,  as  Paul  to  the  Gala- 
tians  in  another  case.  Foolish  sinners  !  "  who  hath  be- 
witched you?"  It  is  not  for  nothing  that  divines  used 
to  call  the  world  a  witch :  for  as  in  witchcraft  men's 
lives,  senses,  goods,  or  cattle  are  destroyed  by  a 
strange,  secret,  unseen  power  of  the  devil,  of  which  a 
man  can  give  no  natural  reason  ;  so  here  men  will  de- 
stroy their  own  souls  in  a  way  quite  against  their  own 
knowledge.  Would  not  a  man  wonder,  that  is  in  his 
right  senses,  to  see  what  riding  and  running,  what 
scrambling  and  catching,  there  is  for  a  thing  of  naught, 
while  eternal  rest  lies  by  neglected  !  What  contriving 
and  caring,  what  fighting  and  bloodshed,  to  get  a  step 
higher  in  the  world  than  their  brethren,  while  they  ne- 
glect the  kingly  dignity  of  the  saints  !  What  insatiable 
pursuit  of  fleshly  pleasures,  while  they  look  upon  the 
praises  of  God,  which  are  the  joy  of  angels,  as  a  burden  ! 
What  unwearied  diligence  is  there  in  raising  their  pos- 
terity, enlarging  their  possessions,  gathering  a  little  sil- 
ver or  gold  !  Yea,  perhaps  for  a  poor  living  from  hand 
to  mouth,  while  in  the  meantime  their  judgment  is  dravv^- 
ing  near  ;  and  yet  how  it  shall  go  v/ith  them  then,  or 
how  they  shall  live  eternally,  did  never  put  them  to  one 
hour's  sober  consideration. 

What  rising  up  early,  sitting  up  late,  labouring  and 
caring  year  after  year,  to  maintain  themselves  and  chil- 
dren in  credit  till  they  die  ;  but  what  shall  follow  after, 
that  they  never  think  on ;  and  yet  these  men  cry  to  us. 
May  not  a  man  be  saved  without  so  much  ado  ?  How 
early  do  they  rouse  up  their  servants  to  their  labour ! 
[Up,  come  away  to  work,  we  have  this  to  do,  and  that  to 
do  ;]  but  how  seldom  do  they  call  them  [Up,  you  have 
your  soul  to  look  to,  you  have  everlasting  life  to  provide 
for  ;  up  to  prayer,  to  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures.! 


THE  saints'  everlasting  REST.  107 

What  a  gadding  up  and  down  the  world  is  here,  like 
a  company  of  ants  upon  a  hillock,  taking  incessant  pains 
to  gather  a  treasure,  which  death  will  spurn  abroad,  as 
if  it  were  such  an  excellent  thing  to  die  in  the  midst  of 
wealth  and  honours  !  Or  as  if  it  would  be  such  a  com- 
fort to  a  man  in  another  world,  to  think  that  he  was  a 
lord,  or  a  knight,  or  a  gentleman,  or  a  rich  man,  on 
earth  !  What  hath  tliis  world  done  for  its  lovers  and 
friends,  that  it  is  so  eagerly  followed,  and  painfully 
sought  after,  while  Christ  and  heaven  stand  by,  and  few 
regard  them  ?  Or  what  will  the  world  do  for  them  for 
the  time  to  come?  The  common  entrance  into  it  is 
'through  anguish  and  sorroAV.  The  passage  through  it  is 
with  continual  care  and  labour.  The  passage  out  of  it  is 
with  the  greatest  sharpness  and  sadness  of  all.  What 
then  doth  cause  men  so  much  to  follow  and  affect  it?  O 
unreasonable,  bewitched  men  !  Will  mirth  and  pleasure 
stick  close  to  you  ?  Will  gold  and  worldly  glory  prove 
fast  friends  to  you  in  the  time  of  your  greatest  need  ? 
Will  they  hear  your  cries  in  the  day  of  your  calamity? 
If  a  man  should  say  to  you,  as  Elias  did  to  Baal's  priests, 
"  Cry  aloud :"  O  riches,  or  honour,  now  help  us  !  Vvlll 
they  either  answer  or  relieve  you  ?  Will  they  go  along 
with  you  to  another  world,  and  bribe  the  Judge,  and 
bring  you  off  clear  ;  or  purchase  you  a  room  among  the 
blessed  ?  Why  then  did  so  rich  a  m.an  v^ant  a  drop  of 
water  to  cool  his  tongue  ?  Or  are  the  sweet  morsels  of 
present  delight  and  honour  of  more  worth  than  eternal 
rest  ?  and  will  they  recompense  the  loss  of  that  endur- 
ing treasure  ?  Can  there  be  the  least  hope  of  any  of 
these?  What  then  is  the  matter?  Is  it  only  a  room  for 
our  dead  bodies,  that  we  are  so  much  beholden  to  the 
world  for  ?  Why  this  is  the  last  and  longest  courtesy 
that  we  shall  receive  from  it.  But  we  shall  have  this 
whether  we  serve  it  or  no ;  and  even  that  homely,  dusty 
dwelling  it  vvill  not  afford  us  always  neither  ;  it  shall 
possess  our  dust  but  till  the  resurrection.  How  then 
doth  the  world  deserve  so  well  at  men's  hands,  that  they 
should  part  with  Christ  and  their  salvation,  to  be  its 
followers  ?  Ah,  vile  deceitful  world !  how  oft  have  we 
heard  thy  fliithfullest  servants  at  last  complaining,  O 


108  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

the  world  hath  deceived  me,  and  undone  me  !  And  yet 
succeeding  sinners  will  take  no  warning. 

So  this  is  the  first  sort  of  neglecters  of  heaven  which 
fall  under  this  reproof. 

2.  The  second  sort  here  to  be  reproved,  are  the  pro- 
fane, ungodly,  presumptuous  multitude,  who  will  not  be 
persuaded  to  be  at  so  much  pains  for  salvation,  as  to 
perform  the  common  outward  duties  of  religion.  Yea, 
though  they  are  convinced  that  these  duties  are  com- 
manded, yet  will  they  not  be  brought  to  the  common 
practice  of  them.  If  they  have  the  Gospel  preached  in 
the  town  where  they  dwell,  it  may  be  they  will  give  the 
hearing  to  it  one  part  of  the  day,  and  stay  at  home  the 
other ;  or  if  the  master  come  to  the  congregation,  yet 
part  of  his  family  must  stay  at  home.'  If  they  want  the 
plain  and  powerful  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  how  few  are 
there  in  a  whole  town  who  will  travel  a  mile  or  two  to 
hear  abroad,  though  they  will  go  many  miles  to  the 
market  for  their  bodies. 

And  though  they  know  the  Scripture  is  the  law  of 
God,  by  which  they  must  be  acquitted  or  condemned  in 
judgment ;  and  that  it  is  the  property  of  every  blessed 
man  to  delight  in  this  law,  and  to  meditate  in  it  day  and 
night,  yet  will  they  not  be  at  the  pains  to  read  a  chapter 
once  a  day,  nor  to  acquaint  their  families  with  this  doc- 
trine of  salvation.  But  if  they  carry  a  Bible  to  church, 
and  let  it  lie  by  them  all  the  week,  this  is  the  m.ost  use 
that  they  make  of  it.  And  though  they  are  commanded 
to  "  pray  without  ceasing ;"  and  to  "  pray  always,  and 
not  to  faint ;"  to  "  continue  in  prayer,  and  watch  in  the 
same  with  thanksgiving  ;"  yet  will  they  not  pray  con- 
stantly with  their  families,  or  in  secret.  You  may  hear 
in  their  houses  two  oaths  for  one  prayer.  Or  if  they 
do  any  thing  this  way,  it  is  usually  but  a  running  over  a 
few  formal  words  which  they  have  got  on  their  tongues' 
end,  as  if  they  came  on  purpose  to  make  a  jest  of  prayer, 
and  to  mock  God  and  their  own  souls. 

Alas !  he  that  only  reads  in  a  book  that  he  is  misera- 
ble, and  what  his  soul  stands  in  need  of,  but  never  felt 
himself  miserable,  or  felt  his  several  wants,  no  wonder 
if  he  must  also  fetch  his  prayer  from  his  book  only,  or 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  109 

at  farthest  from  the  strength  of  his  memory.  Solomon's 
request  to  God  was,  that  "  what  prayer  or  suppUcation 
soever  should  be  made  by  any  man,  or  by  all  the  people, 
■when  every  man  shall  know  his  own  sore,  and  his  own 
grief,  and  shall  spread  forth  his  hands  before  God,  that 
God  would  then  hear  and  forgive,"  2  Chron.  vi,  29,  30. 
If  these  men  did  thus  know  and  feel  every  man  the  sore, 
and  the  grief  of  his  own  soul,  we  should  neither  need  so 
much  to  urge  them  to  prayer,  nor  to  teach  them  how  to 
perform  it.  Whereas  now  they  invite  God  to  he  back- 
ward in  giving,  by  their  backwardness  in  asking  ;  and 
to  be  weary  of  relieving  them,  by  their  own  being  weary 
d*f  begging ;  and  to  be  seldom  and  short  in  his  favours, 
as  they  are  in  their  prayers  ;  and  to  give  them  but  com- 
mon and  outward  favours,  as  they  put  up  but  common 
and  outside  requests.  Yea,  their  cold  and  heartless 
prayers  invite  God  to  a  flat  denial :  for  among  men  it 
is  taken  for  granted,  that  he  who  asks  but  slightly  and 
seldom,  cares  not  much  for  what  he  asks.  Do  not  these 
men  judge  themselves  unworthy  of  heaven,  who  think  it 
not  worth  their  more  constant  and  earnest  requests  ?  If 
it  be  not  worth  asking  for,  it  is  worth  nothing.  And  yet 
if  you  should  go  from  house  to  house,  through  town  and 
parish,  and  inquire  at  every  house  as  you  go,  whether 
they  do  morning  and  evening  call  their  family  together, 
and  earnestly  seek  the  Lord  in  prayer  ;  how  few  would 
you  find  that  constantly  and  conscientiously  practise 
this  duty  ?  If  every  door  were  marked  where  they  do 
not  thus  call  upon  the  name  of  God,  that  his  wrath  might 
be  poured  out  upon  that  family,  our  towns  would  be  as 
places  overthrown  by  the  plague,  the  people  being  dead 
within,  and  the  mark  of  judgment  without.  I  fear  where 
one  house  would  escape,  ten  would  be  marked  out  for 
death ;  then  they  might  teach  their  doors  to  pray.  Lord 
have  mercy  upon  ns ;  because  the  people  would  not 
pray  themselves.  But  especially  if  you  could  see  what 
men  do  in  their  secret  chambers,  how  iew  should  you 
find  in  a  whole  town  that  spend  one  quarter  of  an  hour, 
morning  and  night,  in  earnest  supplication  to  God  for 
their  souls  ?  O  how  little  do  these  men  set  by  eternal 
rest! 

Thus  do  they  slothfuUy  neglect  all  endeavours  for 


110  THE    saints'    everlasting  REST. 

their  own  welfare,  except  some  public  duty  in  the  con- 
gregation, which  custom  or  credit  doth  engage  them  to. 
Persuade  them  to  read  good  books,  and  they  will  not  be 
at  so  nmch  pains.  Persuade  them  to  learn  the  grounds 
of  religion  in  some  catechism,  and  they  think  it  toilsome 
slavery,  lit  for  schoolboys.  Persuade  them  to  sanctify 
the  Lord's  day,  and  to  spend  it  wholly  in  hearing  the 
word,  and  repeating  it  with  their  families,  and  prayer 
and  meditation,  and  to  forbear  all  their  worldly  thoughts 
and  speeches  ;  and  what  a  tedious  life  do  they  take  this 
to  be  ;  and  how  long  may  you  preach  to  them,  before 
they  will  be  brought  to  it?  As  if  they  thought  heaven 
were  not  worth  all  this  ado.  * 

3.  The  third  sort  that  fall  under  this  reproof,  are  those 
self-cozening,  formal,  lazy  professors  of  religion,  who 
will  be  brought  to  any  outward  duty,  but  to  the  inward 
work  they  will  never  be  persuaded.  They  will  preach, 
or  hear,  or  read,  or  talk  of  heaven,  or  pray  customarily 
or  constantly  in  their  families,  and  take  part  with  the 
persons  and  causes  that  are  good  ;  and  desire  to  be 
esteemed  among  the  godly ;  but  you  can  never  bring 
them  to  the  more  spiritual  duties:  as  to  be  constant  and 
fervent  in  secret  prayer  ;  to  be  conscientious  in  the  duty 
of  self-examination,  to  be  constant  in  meditation,  to  be 
heavenly  minded,  to  watch  constantly  over  their  hearts, 
and  words,  and  w^ays,  to  deny  their  bodily  senses  and 
their  delights,  to  mortify  the  flesh,  and  not  make  pro- 
vision for  it,  to  fulfil  its  lusts ;  to  love  and  heartily 
forgive  an  enemy,  and  to  prefer  their  brethren  heartily 
before  themselves.  The  outside  hypocrites  will  never 
be  persuaded  to  any  of  these.  Above  all  other,  tvv^o 
sorts  there  are  of  these  hypocrites : — 

1.  The  superficial  opinionative  hypocrite. 

2.  The  worldly  hypocrite. 

The  former  entertaineth  the  doctrine  of  the  Gospel 
with  joy ;  but  it  is  only  in  the  surface  of  his  soul ;  he 
never  gives  the  seed  any  depth  of  earth.  He  changeth 
his  opinion,  and  thereupon  engageth  for  religion,  as  the 
right  way,  but  it  never  melted  and  new  moulded  his 
heart,  nor  set  up  Christ  there  in  full  power  and  autho- 
rity :  as  his  religion  is  but  opinion,  so  is  his  study,  and 
conference,  and  chief  business,  all  about  opinion.     He 


THE  saints'  everlasting  REST.  Ill 

is  usually  an  ignorant,  proud,  bold  inquirer  and  babbler 
about  controversies,  rather  than  an  humble  embracer  of 
the  known  truth,  with  love  and  subjection.  You  may- 
conjecture,  by  his  bold  and  forward  tongue,  and  con- 
ceitedness  in  his  own  opinions,  and  slighting  the  judg- 
ments and  persons  of  others,  and  seldom  talking  of  the 
great  things  of  Christ  with  seriousness  and  humility, 
that  his  religion  dwelleth  in  the  brain,  and  not  in  his 
heart ;  where  the  wind  of  temptation  assaults  him,  he 
easily  yieldeth,  and  it  carrieth  him  away  as  a  feather, 
because  his  heart  is  empty,  and  not  balanced  and  esta- 
blished with  Christ  and  grace.  If  this  man's  judgment 
lead  him  in  the  ceremonious  way,  then  doth  he  employ 
his  chief  zeal  for  ceremonies.  If  his  judgment  be 
against  ceremonies,  then  his  strongest  zeal  is  employed 
in  studying,  talking,  disputing  against  them,  and  cen- 
suring the  users  of  them.  For,  not  having  the  essen- 
tials of  Christianity,  he  hath  only  the  mint  and  cummin, 
the  smaller  matters  of  the  law,  to  lay  out  his  zeal  upon. 
You  shall  never  hear  any  humble  and  hearty  bewailings 
of  his  soul's  imperfections,  or  any  heart-bleeding  ac- 
knowledgments of  his  unkindnesses  to  Christ,  of  any 
pantings  and  longings  after  him,  from  this  man  ;  but 
that  he  is  of  such  a  judgment,  or  such  a  religion,  or 
society,  or  a  member  of  such  a  Church :  herein  doth  he 
gather  his  greatest  comforts ;  but  the  inward  and  spi- 
ritual labours  of  a  Christian  he  will  not  be  brought  to. 

The  like  may  be  said  of  the  worldly  hypocrite,  who 
choketh  the  doctrine  of  the  Gospel  with  the  thorns  of 
worldly  cares  and  desires.  His  judgment  is  convinced 
that  he  must  be  religious,  or  he  cannot  be  saved  ;  and 
therefore  he  reads,  and  hears,  and  prays,  and  forsakes 
his  former  company  and  courses  ;  but  because  his  belief 
of  the  Gospel  doctrine  is  but  wavering  and  shallow,  he 
resolves  to  keep  his  hold  of  present  things ;  and  yet  to 
be  religious,  that  so  he  may  have  heaven  when  he  can 
keep  the  world  no  longer.  This  man's  judgment  may 
say,  God  is  the  chief  good,  but  his  heart  and  afiections 
never  said  so,  but  looked  upon  God  as  to  be  tolerated 
rather  than  the  flames  of  hell,  but  not  desired  before  the 
felicity  on  earth.  In  a  word,  the  world  hath  more  of 
his  affections  than  God,  and  therefore  is  his  god.     This 


11!8  THE   saints'    everlasting   REST. 

he  might  easily  know  and  feel,  if  he  would  judge  impar- 
tially, and  were  but  faithful  to  himself.  And  though 
this  man  does  not  gad  after  novelties  in  religion  as  the 
former,  yet  will  he  set  his  sails  to  the  wind  of  worldly 
advantage.  And  as  a  man  whose  spirits  are  seized  on 
by  some  pestilential  malignity  is  feeble,  and  faint,  and 
heartless  in  all  that  he  does ;  so  this  man's  spirits  being 
possessed  by  the  plague  of  this  malignant,  worldly  dis- 
position, how  faint  is  he  in  secret  prayer  !  how  super- 
ficial in  examination  and  meditation  !  how  feeble  in 
heart  watchings,  and  humbling,  mortifying  endeavours  ! 
how  nothing  at  all  in  loving  and  walking  with  God, 
rejoicing  in  him,  or  desiring  him  !  So  that  both  these, 
and  many  other  sorts  of  lazy  hypocrites  there  are,  who, 
though  they  will  trudge  on  with  you  in  the  easy  outside 
of  religion,  yet  will  never  be  at  the  pains  of  inward  and 
spiritual  duties. 

4.  And  even  good  men  themselves  deserve  this  re- 
proof, for  being  too  lazy  seekers  of  everlasting  rest. 
Alas,  what  a  disproportion  is  there  between  our  light 
and  our  heat !  our  professions  and  prosecutions  !  Who 
makes  that  haste  as  if  it  were  for  heaven  ?  How  still 
we  stand  !  How  idly  we  work  !  How  we  talk,  and 
jest,  and  trifle  away  our  time  !  How  deceitfully  we  do 
the  work  of  God  !  How  we  hear,  as  if  we  heard  not ; 
and  pray,  as  if  we  prayed  not ;  and  confer,  and  examine, 
and  meditate,  and  reprove  sin,  as  if  we  did  it  not ;  and 
use  the  ordinances,  as  if  we  used  them  not ,  and  enjoy 
Christ,  as  if  we  enjoyed  him  not ;  as  if  we  had  learned 
to  use  the  things  of  heaven,  as  the  apostle  teacheth  us 
to  use  the  world  !  Who  would  think  that  stood  by  us, 
and  heard  us  pray  in  private  or  public,  that  we  were 
praying  for  no  less  than  everlasting  glory?  Should 
heaven  be  sought  no  more  earnestly  than  thus  ?  Me- 
thinks  we  are  none  of  us  all  in  good  sadness  for  our 
souls.  We  do  but  dally  with  the  work  of  God,  and 
play  with  Christ,  as  children  play  with  their  meat  when 
they  should  eat  it :  we  hang  upon  ordinances  from  day 
to  day,  but  we  stir  not  ourselves  to  seek  the  Lord. 

I  see  a  great  many  very  constant  in  hearing  and  pray- 
ing, but  they  do  not  hear  and  pray  as  if  it  were  for  their 
lives.    O,  what  a  frozen  stupidity  hath  benumbed  us ! 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  113 

The  plague  of  Lot's  wife  is  upon  us,  as  if  we  were 
changed  into  lifeless  and  immovable  pillars ;  we  are 
dying,  and  we  know  it,  and  yet  we  stir  not !  we  arc  at 
the  door  of  eternal  happiness  or  misery,  and  yet  we 
perceive  it  not :  death  knocks,  and  we  hear  it  not : 
Christ  calls  and  knocks,  and  we  hear  not :  God  cries  to 
us,  "To-day,  if  you  will  hear  my  voice,  harden  not  your 
hearts.  Work  while  it  is  day,  for  the  night  cometh 
when  none  can  work."  Now  ply  your  business,  now 
labour  for  your  lives  ;  now  lay  out  all  your  strength. 
Now  or  never  ;  and  yet  we  stir  no  more  than  if  we 
were  half  asleep.  What  haste  do  death  and  judgment 
make  !  How  fast  do  they  come  on  !  They  are  almost 
at  us,  and  yet  what  little  haste  make  we  !  The  spur  of 
God  is  in  our  side  ;  we  bleed,  we  groan,  and  yet  we  do 
not  mend  our  pace.  Lord,  what  a  senseless,  sottish, 
earthly,  hellish  thing,  is  a  hard  heart !  that  we  will  not 
go  roundly  and  cheerfully  toward  heaven  without  all 
this  ado  !  No,  nor  with  it  either !  Where  is  the  man 
that  is  serious  in  his  Christianity  ?  Methinks  men  every 
where  make  but  a  trifle  of  their  eternal  state.  They 
look  after  it  but  a  little  by  the  by ;  they  do  not  make  it 
the  task  and  business  of  their  lives. 

To  be  plain  with  you,  I  think  nothing  undoes  men  so 
much  as  complimenting  and  jesting  in  religion.  O,  if  I 
were  not  sick  myself  of  the  same  disease,  with  what 
tears  would  I  mix  this  ink  ;  and  with  what  groans 
should  I  express  these  sad  complaints  ;  and  with  what 
heart's  grief  should  I  mourn  over  this  universal  dead- 
ness  !  Do  the  magistrates  among  us  seriously  perform 
their  portion  of  the  work  ?  Are  they  zealous  for  God  ? 
Do  they  build  up  his  house  ?  Are  they  tender  of  his 
honour  ?  Do  they  second  the  word  ?  encourage  the  good  ? 
relieve  the  oppressed?  compassionate  the  distressed? 
and  fly  at  the  face  of  sin  and  sinners,  as  being  the  dis- 
turbers of  our  peace,  and  the  only  cause  of  all  our 
miseries  ?  Do  they  study  how  to  do  the  utmost  they 
can  for  God?  to  improve  their  power,  and  parts,  and 
wealth,  and  honour,  and  all  their  interest  for  their  great- 
est advantage  to  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  as  men  that 
must  shortly  give  an  account  of  their  stewardship  ?  Or 
do  they  build  their  own  houses,  and  seek  their  advance- 


114  THE   saints'   everlasting  REST. 

merits,  and  contest  for  their  own  honours,  and  do  no 
more  for  Christ  than  needs  they  must,  or  than  lies  in 
their  way,  or  than  is  put  by  others  into  their  hands,  or 
than  stands  with  the  pleasing  of  their  friends,  or  with 
their  worldly  interest  ? 

And  how  thin  are  those  ministers  that  are  serious  in 
their  work !  Nay,  how  mightily  do  the  very  best  fail  in 
this  !  Do  we  cry  out  of  men's  disobedience  to  the 
Gospel,  in  the  evidence  and  power  of  the  Spirit,  and 
deal  with  sin,  as  that  which  is  the  fire  in  our  towns  and 
houses,  and  by  force  pull  men  out  of  this  fire?  Do  we 
persuade  our  people,  as  those  that  know  the  terrors  of 
the  Lord  should  do  ?  Do  we  press  Christ,  and  regene- 
ration, and  faith,  and  holiness,  as  men  that  believe, 
indeed,  that  without  these  they  shall  never  have  life? 
Do  our  bowels  yearn  over  the  ignorant,  and  the  careless, 
and  the  obstinate  multitude,  as  men  that  believe  their 
own  doctrine  ?  When  we  look  them  in  the  face,  do  our 
hearts  melt  over  them,  lest  we  should  never  see  their 
faces  in  rest  ?  Do  we,  as  Paul,  tell  them  weeping,  of 
their  fleshly  and  earthly  disposition  ?  and  teach  them 
publicly,  and  from  house  to  house,  night  and  day  with 
tears  ?  And  do  we  entreat  them,  as  if  it  were  indeed 
for  their  lives !  that  when  we  speak  of  the  joys  and 
miseries  of  another  world,  our  people  may  see  us 
affected  accordingly,  and  perceive  that  we  mean  as  we 
speak?  Or  rather,  do  we  not  study  words,  as  if  a 
minister's  business  were  but  to  tell  them  a  smooth  tale 
of  an  hour  long,  and  so  look  no  more  after  them  till  the 
next  sermon  ? 

O  the  formal,  frozen,  lifeless  sermons  which  we  daily 
hear  preached  upon  the  most  weighty,  piercing  subjects 
in  the  world  !  How  gently  do  we  handle  those  sins 
which  will  handle  so  cruelly  our  people's  souls  !  And 
how  tenderly  do  we  deal  with  their  careless  hearts,  not 
speaking  to  them  as  men  that  must  be  awakened  or 
damned  !  We  tell  them  of  heaven  and  hell  in  such  a 
sleepy  tone,  and  slight  way,  as  if  we  were  but  acting  a 
part  in  a  play  ;  so  that  we  usually  preach  our  people 
asleep  with  those  subjects  which  one  would  think 
should  rather  endanger  the  driving  some  beside  them- 
selves. 


THE   saints'   everlasting  REST.  115 

In  a  word,  our  want  of  seriousness  about  the  things 
of  heaven  doth  charm  the  souls  of  men  into  formality, 
and  hath  brought  them  to  this  customary,  careless 
hearing,  which  undoes  them.  .The  Lord  pardon  the 
great  sin  of  the  ministry  in  this  thing,  and  in  particular 
my  own. 

And  are  the  people  any  more  serious  than  magistrates 
and  ministers?  How  can  it  be  expected?  Reader, 
look  but  to  thyself,  and  resolve  the  question.  Ask  con- 
science, and  suffer  it  to  tell  thee  truly.  Hast  thou  set 
thine  eternal  rest  before  thine  eyes,  as  the  great  business 
which  thou  hast  to  do  in  this  world  ?  Hast  thou  studied, 
and  cared,  and  watched,  and  laboured  with  all  thy  might, 
lest  any  should  take  thy  crown  from  thee  ?  Hast  thou 
made  haste,  lest  thou  shouldst  come  too  late,  and  die 
before  the  work  be  done  ?  Hath  thy  heart  been  set 
upon  it,  and  thy  desires  and  thoughts  run  out  this  way? 
Hast  thou  pressed  on  through  crowds  of  opposition 
"  toward  the  mark,  for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of 
God  in  Christ  Jesus  ?"  When  you  have  set  your  hand 
to  the  work  of  G  )1,  have  you  done  it  with  all  your 
might?  Can- conscience  witness  your  secret  cries,  and 
groans,  and  tears  ?  Can  your  families  witness  that  you 
have  taught  them  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  warned  them 
all  with  earnestness  and  unweariedness  to  remember 
God  and  their  souls  ?  Or  that  you  have  done  but  as 
much  for  them,'  as  that  damned  glutton  would  have  had 
Lazarus  do  for  his  brethren  on  earth,  to  warn  them  that 
they  come  not  to  that  place  of  torment !  Can  your 
ministers  witness  that  they  have  heard  you  cry  out, 
"  What  shall  we  do  to  be  saved  ?"  And  that  you  have 
followed  them  with  complaints  against  your  corruptions, 
and  with  earnest  inquiries  after  the  Lord  ?  Can  your 
neighbours  about  you  witness  that  you  are  still  learning 
of  them  that  are  able  to  instruct  you  ?  And  that  you 
plainly  and  roundly  reprove  the  ungodly,  and  take  pains 
for  the  saving  of  your  brethren's  souls  ?  Let  all  these 
witnesses  judge  this  day  between  God  and  you,  whether 
you  are  in  good  earnest  about  eternal  rest. 

But  if  yet  you  cannot  discern  your  neglects,  look  but 
to  yourselves  :  within  you,  without  you,  to  the  work 
you  have  done.    You  can  tell  by  his  work  whether  your 


116  THE  saints'  everlasting  REST. 

servant  hath  loitered,  though  you  did  not  see  him :  so 
you  may  by  yourselves.  Is  your  love  to  Christ,  your 
faith,  your  zeal,  and  other  graces,  strong  or  weak? 
What  are  your  joys  ?  What  is  your  assurance  ?  Is  all 
right,  and  strong,  and  in  order  within  you  ?  Are  you 
ready  to  die,  if  this  should  be  the  day  ?  Do  the  souls 
among  whom  you  have  conversed,  bless  you  ?  Why, 
judge  by  this,  and  it  will  quickly  appear  whether  you 
have  been  labourers  or  loiterers. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

AN  EXHORTATION    TO    SERIOUSNESS    IN   SEEKING    REST. 

I  HOPE,  reader,  by  this  time  thou  art  somewhat  sen- 
sible what  a  desperate  thing  it  is  to  trifle  about  eternal 
rest ;  and  how  deeply  thou  hast  been  guilty  of  this  thy- 
self. And  I  hope,  also,  that  thou  darest  not  now  suffer 
this  conviction  to  die  ;  but  art  resolved  to  be  another 
man  for  the  time  to  come.  What  sa3-est  thou?  Is  this 
thy  resolution?  If  thou  wert  sick  of  some  desperate 
disease,  and  the  physician  should  tell  thee.  If  you 
will  observe  but  one  thing,  I  doubt  not  to  cure  you : 
wouldst  thou  not  observe  it  ?  Why,  if  thou  wilt  observe 
but  this  one  thing  for  thy  soul,  I  make  no  doubt  of  thy 
salvation  ;  if  thou  wilt  now  but  shake  off  thy  sloth,  and 
put  to  all  thy  strength,  and  be  a  downright  Christian,  I 
know  not  what  can  hinder  thy  happiness.  As  far  as 
thou  art  gone  from  God,  if  thou  now  return  and  seek 
him  with  thy  whole  heart,  no  doubt  but  thou  shalt  find 
him.  As  unkindly  as  thou  hast  dealt  with  Jesus  Christ, 
if  thou  didst  but  feel  thyself  sick  and  dead,  and  seek 
him  heartily,  and  apply  thyself  in  good  earnest  to  the 
obedience  of  his  laws,  thy  salvation  were  as  sure  as  if 
thou  hadst  it  already  ;  but  as  full  as  the  satisfaction  of 
Christ  is,  as  free  as  the  promise  is,  as  large  as  the  mercy 
of  God  is  ;  yet  if  thou  do  but  look  on  these,  and  talk 
of  them,  when  thou  shouldst  greedily  entertain  them, 
thou  wilt  be  never  the  better  for  them  :  and  if  thou 
shouldst  loiter  when  thou  shouldst  labour,  thou  wilt  lose 
the  crown.     O  fall  to  work  then  speedily  and  seriously, 


EVERLASTING  REST.  117 

and  bless  God  that  thou  hast  yet  time  to  do  it;  and 
though  that  which  is  past  cannot  be  recalled,  yet  re- 
deem the  time  now  by  doubling  thy  diligence. 

And  because  thou  shalt  see  I  urge  thee  not  without 
cause,  I  will  here  adjoin  a  multitude  of  considerations  to 
move  thee  :  their  intent  and  use  is,  to  drive  thee  from  de- 
laying, and  from  loitering  in  seeking  rest.  Whoever  thou 
art,  therefore,  I  entreat  thee  to  rouse  up  thy  spirit,  and 
give  me  awhile  thy  attention,  and  (as  Moses  said  to  the 
people)  "  set  thy  heart  to  all  the  words  that  I  testify  to 
thee  this  day ;  for  it  is  not  a  vain  thing,  but  it  is  for  thy 
life."  Weigh  what  I  here  write,  with  the  judgment  of 
a  man  ;  and  the  Lord  open  thy  heart,  and  fasten  his 
counsel  effectually  upon  thee. 

1.  Consider  our  affections  and  actions  should  be  an- 
swerable to  the  greatness  of  the  ends  to  which  they  are 
intended.  Now  the  ends  of  a  Christian's  desires  and 
endeavours  are  so  great  that  no  human  understanding 
on  earth  can  comprehend  them  ;  whether  you  respect 
their  proper  excellence,  their  exceeding  importance,  or 
their  absolute  necessity. 

These  ends  are,  the  glorifying  of  God,  the  salvation 
of  our  own  and  other  men's  souls,  in  escaping  the  tor- 
ments of  hell,  and  possessing  the  glory  of  heaven.  And 
can  a  man  be  too  much  affected  with  things  of  such 
moment?  Can  he  desire  them  too  earnestly,  or  love 
them  too  violently,  or  labour  for  them  too  diligently? 
When  we  know  that  if  our  prayers  prevail  not,  and  our 
labour  succeeds  not,  we  are  undone  for  ever,  I  think  it 
concerns  us  to  seek  and  labour  to  the  purpose.  When 
it  is  put  to  the  question,  whether  we  shall  live  for  ever 
in  heaven  or  in  hell ;  and  the  question  must  be  resolved 
upon  our  obeying  the  Gospel,  or  disobeying  it,  upon  the 
painfulness  or  the  slothfulness  of  our  present  endea- 
vours ;  I  think  it  is  time  for  us  to  bestir  ourselves,  and 
to  leave  our  trifling  and  complimenting  with  God. 

2.  Consider,  our  diligence  should  be  answerable  to 
the  greatness  of  the  work  which  we  have  to  do,  as  well 
as  to  the  ends  of  it. 

Now,  the  works  of  a  Christian  here  are  very  many, 
and  very  great :  the  soul  must  be  renewed  ;  many  and 
great  corruptions  mortified  ;  custom,  temptations,  and 


118  THE   saints'   everlasting   REST. 

worldly  interest  must  be  conquered ;  flesh  must  be  mas- 
tered ;  life,  and  friends,  and  credit,  and  all  must  be 
slighted  ;  conscience  must  be  upon  good  grounds 
quieted  ;  assurance  of  pardon  and  salvation  must  be 
attained.  And  though  it  is  God  that  must  give  us  these, 
and  that  freely,  without  our  own  merits  ;  yet  will  he  not 
give  them  without  our  earnest  seeking  and  labour. 

Besides,  there  is  a  deal  of  knowledge  to  be  got,  for 
the  guiding  ourselves,  for  defending  the  truth,  for  the 
direction  of  others,  and  a  deal  of  skill  for  the  right 
managing  of  our  parts  :  many  ordinances  are  to  be 
used,  and  duties  to  be  performed,  ordinary  and  extraor- 
dinary ;  every  age,  and  year,  and  day,  doth  requiie  fresh 
succession  of  duty :  every  place  we  come  in,  every 
person  we  have  to  deal  with,  every  change  of  our  con- 
dition, doth  still  require  the  renewing  our  labour,  and 
bringeth  duty  along  with  it :  wives,  children,  servants, 
neighbours,  friends,  enemies,  all  of  them  call  for  duty 
from  us ;  and  all  this  of  great  importance  too  :  so  that 
for  the  most,  if  v/e  miscarry  in  it,  it  would  piove  our 
undoing. 

Judge  then  yourselves,  whether  men  that  have  so  much 
business  lying  upon  their  hands  should  not  bestir  them! 
And  whether  it  be  their  wisdom  either  to  delay  or  to  loiter ! 

3.  Consider,  our  diligence  should  be  quickened,  be- 
cause of  the  shortness  and  uncertainty  of  the  time 
allotted  us  for  the  performing  of  all  this  work,  and  the 
many  and  great  impediments  which  we  meet  with.  Yet 
a  few  days  and  we  shall  be  here  no  more.  Time  passeth 
on  :  m.any  diseases  are  ready  to  assault  us  ;  we  that 
now  are  preaching,  and  hearing,  and  talking,  and  walk- 
ing, must  very  shortly  be  carried,  and  laid  in  the  dust, 
and  there  left  to  the  worms  in  darkness  and  corruption ; 
we  are  almost  there  already ;  it  is  but  a  few  days,  or 
months,  or  years,  and  what  is  that  when  once  they  are 
past?  We  know  not  whether  we  shall  have  another 
sermon,  or  sabbath,  or  hour.  How  then  should  those 
bestir  them  for  their  everlasting  rest  who  know  they 
have  so  short  a  space  for  so  great  a  work  ?  Besides, 
every  step  in  the  way  hath  its  difficulties  .  "  the  gate  is 
strait,  and  the  way  narrow:  the  righteous  themselves 
are  scarcely  saved."      Scandals  and   discouragements 


THE   SAINTS     EVERLASTING   REST.  119 

will  be  still  cast  before  us  ;  and  can  all  these  be  over- 
come by  slothful  endeavours  ? 

4.  Moreover,  our  diligence  should  be  answerable  to 
the  diligence  of  our  enemies  in  seeking  our  destruction. 
For  if  we  sit  still  while  they  are  plotting  and  labouring; 
or  if  we  be  lazy  in  our  defence,  while  they  are  dihgent 
in  assaulting  us,  you  may  easily  conceive  how  we  are 
likely  to  speed.  How  diligent  is  Satan  in  all  kinds  of 
temptations  !  Therefore  "  be  sober  and  vigilant,  be- 
cause your  adversary,  the  devil,  as  a  roaring  lion,  walk- 
eth  about,  seeking  whom  he  may  devour.  Hov/  diligent 
are  all  the  ministers  of  Satan  !  False  teachers,  scorners 
at  godliness,  malicious  persecutors,  all  unwearied  ;  and 
our  inward  corruption,  the  most  busy  and  diligent  of  all ; 
whatever  we  are  about,  it  is  still  resisting  us  ;  depraving 
our  duties,  perverting  our  thoughts,  dulling  our  affec- 
tions to  good,  exciting  them  to  evil :  and  will  a  feeble 
resistance  serve  our  turn?  Should  we  not  be  more 
active  for  our  own  preservation,  than  our  enemies  for 
our  ruin  ? 

5.  Our  affections  and  endeavours  should  bear  some 
proportion  with  the  talents  we  have  received,  and  means 
we  have  enjoyed. 

It  may  well  be  expected  that  a  horseman  should  go 
faster  than  a  footman  :  and  he  that  hath  a  swift  horse, 
faster  than  he  that  hath  a  slow  one.  More  work  will 
be  expected  from  a  sound  man,  than  from  the  sick  ; 
and  from  a  man  at  age,  than  from  a  child  ;  and  to 
whom  men  commit  much,  from  them  they  will  expect 
the  more. 

Now  the  talents  which  we  have  received  are  many 
and  great;  the  means  which  we  have  enjoyed  are  very 
many,  and  very  precious.  What  people  breathing  on 
earth,  have  had  plainer  instructions,  or  more  forcible 
persuasions,  or  constant  admonitions,  in  season  and  out 
of  season  ?  Sermons,  till  we  have  been  weary  of  them : 
and  Sabbaths  till  we  profaned  them !  Excellent  books 
in  such  plenty,  that  we  knew  not  which  to  read  !  What 
people  have  had  God  so  near  them  as  we  have  had?  Or 
have  seen  Christ,  as  it  were,  crucified  before  their  eyes, 
as  we  have  done  ?  What  people  have  had  heaven  and 
hell,  as  it  were,  opened  unto  them  as  we  ?    Scarce  a  day 


130  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

wherein  we  have  not  had  some  spur  to  put  us  on.  What 
speed  then  should  such  a  people  make  for  heaven  ?  How 
should  they  fly  that  are  thus  winged  ?  And  how  swiftly 
should  they  sail  that  have  wind  and  tide  to  help  them  ? 
Believe  it,  brethren,  God  looks  for  more  from  England, 
than  from  most  nations  in  the  world  :  and  for  more  from 
you  that  enjoy  these  helps,  than  from  the  dark  untaught 
congregations  of  the  land.  A  small  measure  of  grace 
beseems  not  such  a  people  ;  nor  will  an  ordinary  dili- 
gence in  the  work  of  God  excuse  them  ! 

6.  The  vigour  of  our  aff"ections  and  actions  should  be 
answerable  to  the  great  cost  bestowed  upon  us,  and  to 
the  deep  engaging  ^i  ercies  which  we  have  received  from 
God.  Surely  we  owe  more  service  to  our  master  from 
whom  we  have  our  maintenance,  than  we  do  to  a  stran- 
ger to  whom  we  were  never  beholden. 

O  the  cost  that  God  hath  been  at  for  our  sakes  !  The 
riches  of  sea  and  land,  of  heaven  and  earth,  hath  he 
poured  out  unto  us.  All  our  lives  have  been  filled  up 
with  mercies  :  we  cannot  look  back  upon  one  hour  of  it, 
or  passage  in  it,  but  we  may  behold  mercy.  We  feed 
upon  mercy,  we  wear  mercy  upon  our  backs,  we  tread 
upon  mercy ;  mercy  within  us,  mercy  without  us  for 
this  life,  and  for  that  to  come.  O  the  rare  deliverances 
that  we  have  partaken  of,  both  national  and  personal ! 
How  oft,  how  seasonably,  how  fully  have  our  prayers 
been  heard,  and  our  fears  removed  !  What  large 
catalogues  of  particular  mercies  can  every  Christian 
rehearse  !  To  ofler  to  number  them  would  be  as  end- 
less a  task  as  to  number  the  stars,  or  the  sands  of  the 
shore. 

If  there  be  any  difference  betwixt  hell  (where  we 
should  have  been)  and  earth,  (where  we  now  are,)  yea, 
or  heaven,  (which  is  ofi'ered  to  us,)  then  certainly  we 
have  received  mercy  :  yea,  if  the  blood  of  the  Son  of 
God  be  mercy,  then  are  we  engaged  to  God  by  mercy  ; 
for  so  much  did  it  cost  him  to  recover  us  to  himself. 
And  should  a  people  of  such  deep  engagements  be  lazy 
in  their  returns  ?  Shall  God  think  nothing  too  much 
nor  too  good  for  us  ;  and  shall  we  think  all  too  much 
that  we  do  for  him  ?  Thou  that  art  an  observing  sensi- 
ble man,  who  knowest  how  much  thou  art  beholden  to 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  131 

God,  I  appeal  to  thee,  Is  not  a  loitering  performance  of 
a  few  heartless  duties  an  unworthy  requital  of  such  ad- 
mirable kindness  ?  For  my  own  part,  when  I  compare 
my  slow  and  unprofitable  life  with  the  frequent  and 
wonderful  mercies  received,  it  shames  me,  it  silenceth 
me,  and  leaves  me  inexcusable. 

7.  Consider,  all  the  relations  which  we  stand  in  to- 
ward God  call  upon  us  for  our  utmost  diligence.  Should 
not  the  pot  be  wholly  at  the  service  of  the  potter,  and 
the  creature  at  the  service  of  his  Creator  ?  Are  we  his 
children,  and  do  we  not  owe  him  our  most  tender  affec- 
tions, and  dutiful  obedience  ?  Are  we  the  spouse  of 
Christ,  and  do  we  not  owe  him  our  observance,  and  our 
love?  "If  he  be  our  father,  where  is  his  honour?  and 
if  he  be  our  master,  where  is  his  fear  ?  We  call  him 
Lord  and  Master,  and  we  do  well :"  but  if  our  industry 
be  not  answerable  to  our  relations,  we  condemn  our- 
selves in  saying,  we  are  his  children,  or  his  servants. 
How  will  the  hard  labour  and  daily  toil  that  servants 
undergo  to  please  their  masters,  judge  and  condemn 
those  men  who  will  not  labour  so  hard  for  their  great 
Master  ?  Surely  there  is  none  have  a  more  honourable 
master  than  we,  nor  can  expect  such  fruit  of  their  la- 
bours. 

8.  How  close  should  they  ply  their  work,  who  have 
such  attendants  as  we  have !  All  the  world  are  our  ser- 
vants, that  we  may  be  the  servants  of  God.  The  sun, 
and  moon,  and  stars,  attend  us  with  their  light  and  influ- 
jence :  the  earth,  with  all  its  furniture,  is  at  our  service : 
how  many  thousand  plants,  and  flowers,  and  fruits,  and 
birds,  and  beasts,  do  all  attend  us?  The  sea,  with  its 
inhabitants,  the  air,  the  wind,  the  frost  and  snow,  the 
heat  and  fire,  the  clouds  and  rain,  all  wait  upon  us  while 
we  do  our  work  :  yea,  "  the  angels  are  ministering  spi- 
rits for  us.*'  And  is  it  not  an  intolerable  crime  for  us  to 
trifle  while  all  these  are  employed  to  assist  us  ?  Nay, 
more  ;  the  patience  of  God  doth  wait  upon  us  :  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  waiteth  in  the  oflfers  of  his  blood  ;  the  Holy 
Spirit  waiteth,  in  striving  with  our  backward  hearts  : 
besides,  all  his  servants,  the  ministers  of  his  Gospel,  who 
study  and  wait,  and  preach  and  wait,  and  pray  and  wait 
upon  careless  sinners :  and  shall  angels  and  men,  yea 

6 


132  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

the  Lord  himself,  stand  by  and  look  on,  while  thou  dost 
nothing  ? 

O  Christians,  I  beseech  you,  whenever  you  are  on 
your  knees  in  prayer,  or  reproving  the  transgressors,  or 
exhorting  the  obstinate,  or  upon  any  duty,  do  but  re- 
member what  attendants  you  have  for  this  work:  and 
then  judge  how  it  behooves  you  to  perform  it. 

9.  How  forward  and  painful  should  we  be  in  that 
work  where  we  are  sure  we  can  never  do  enough  ?  If 
there  were  any  danger  in  overdoing,  then  it  might  well 
cause  men  to  moderate  their  endeavours  :  but  we  know 
*' that  if  we  could  do  all,  we  were  but  unprofitable  ser- 
vants:" much  more  when  we  fail  in  all. 

It  is  true  a  man  may  possibly  preach  too  much,  or 
hear  too  much,  (though  I  have  known  few  that  did  so,) 
but  yet  no  man  can  obey  or  serve  God  too  mucli.  One 
duty  may  be  said  to  be  too  long  when  it  shuts  out  ano- 
ther ;  and  then  it  ceaseth  indeed  to  be  a  duty.  And  all 
superstition,  or  worship  of  our  own  devising,  may  be 
called  a  righteousness  overmuch ;  yet  as  long  as  you 
keep  your  service  to  the  rule  of  the  word,  you  never 
need  to  fear  "  being  righteous  overmuch  :"  for  else  we 
should  reproach  the  Lord  and  Lawgiver  of  the  Church, 
as  if  he  commanded  us  to  do  too  much. 

If  the  world  were  not  mad  with  malice,  they  could  ne- 
ver be  so  blind  in  this  point  as  they  are  ;  to  think  that 
diligence  for  Christ,  is  folly  and  singularity  ;  and  that 
they  who  set  themselves  wholly  to  seek  eternal  life  are 
but  precise  puritans  !  The  time  is  near,  when  they  will 
easily  confess  that  God  could  not  be  loved  or  served  too 
much,  and  that  no  man  can  be  too  busy  to  save  his  soul. 
For  the  world  you  may  easily  do  too  much,  but  herein 
(in  God's  way)  you  cannot. 

10.  Consider,  they  that  trifle  in  the  way  to  heaven, 
lose  all  their  labour.  If  two  be  running  in  a  race,  he 
that  runs  slowest  had  as  good  never  run  at  all :  for  he 
loseth  the  prize  and  his  labour  both.  Many  who,  like 
Agrippa,  are  but  "  almost  Christians,"  v\all  find  in  the 
end  they  shall  be  but  almost  saved.  God  hath  set  the 
rate  at  which  the  pearl  must  be  bought :  if  you  bid  a 
penny  less,  you  had  as  good  bid  nothing.  As  a  man 
that  is  lifting  up  some  weighty  thing,  if  he  put  to  almost 


EVERLASTING    REST.  123 

strength  enough,  it  is  as  good  he  put  to  none  at  all,  for 
he  cloth  but  lose  all  his  labour.  • 

O  how  many  professors  of  Christianity  will  find  this 
true  to  their  sorrow,  who  have  had  a  mind  to  the  ways 
of  God,  and  have  kept  up  a  dull  task  of  duty,  but  never 
came  to  serious  Christianity  !  How  many  a  duty  have 
they  lost,  for  want  of  doing  them  thoroughly  !  "  Many 
shall  seek  to  enter  in,  and  not  be  able ;"  who,  if  they 
had  striven,  might  have  been  able.  O  therefore  put  to 
a  little  more  diligence  and  strength,  that  all  be  not  in 
vain  that  you  have  done  already  !  i 

11.  Furthermore,  we  have  lost  a  great  deal  of  time  al  • 
ready,  and  therefore  it  is  reason  that  we  labour  so  much 
the  harder.  If  a  traveller  sleep,  or  trifle  out  most  of 
the  day,  he  must  travel  so  much  the  faster  in  the  even- 
ing, or  fall  short  of  his  journey's  end.  With  some  of 
us,  our  childhood  and  youth  are  gone  ;  with  some  also 
their  middle  age  ;  and  the  time  before  us  is  very  uncer- 
tain. What  a  deal  of  time  have  we  slept  away,  and 
talked  av/ay,  and  pi  \yed  away  ?  What  a  deal  have  we 
spent  in  worldly  thoughts  and  labours,  or  in  mere  idle- 
ness ?  Though  in  likelihood  the  most  of  our  time  is 
spent,  yet  how  little  of  our  work  is  done?  And  is  it  not 
time  to  bestir  ourselves  in  the  evening  of  our  days  ?  The 
time  which  we  have  lost  can  never  be  recalled  ;  should 
we  not  then  redeem  it  by  improving  the  little  which  re- 
maineth?  You  may  receive  indeed  an  "  equal  recom- 
pense v/ith  those  that  have  borne  the  burden  and  heat 
of  the  day,  though  you  came  not  till  the  last  hour ;" 
but  then  you  must  be  sure  to  labour  diligently  that 
hour.  It  is  enough  sure  that  we  have  lost  so  much  of 
our  lives.  Let  us  not  now  be  so  foolish  as  to  lose  the 
'est. 

12.  Consider,,  the  greater  are  your  layings  out  the 
greater  will  be  your  comings  in.  Though  you  may 
seem  to  lose  your  labour  at  the  present,  yet  the  hour 
cometh  when  you  shall  find  it  with  advantage.  The 
seed  which  is  buried  and  dead  will  bring  forth  a  plenti- 
ful increase  at  the  harvest.  Whatever  you  do,  and 
whatever  you  suffer,  everlasting  rest  will  pay  for  all. 
There  is  no  repenting  of  labours  and  sufferings  in  hea- 
ven :  none  says,  "  Would  I  had  spared  my  pains  and 


124  THE   saints'   EVERLiySTING   REST. 

prayed  less,  or  been  less  strict,  and  did  as  the  rest  of 
my  neighbours  did :"  there  is  never  such  a  thought  in 
heaven  as  these.  But,  on  the  contrary,  it  will  be  their 
joy  to  look  back  upon  their  labours,  and  consider  how 
the  mighty  power  of  God  did  bring  them  through  all.- 
Whoever  complained  that  he  came  to  heaven  at  too  dear 
a  rate ;  or  that  his  salvation  cost  him  more  labour  than 
it  was  worth  ?  We  may  say  of  all  our  labours,  as  Paul 
of  his  sufferings,  *'  I  reckon  that  the  sufferings"  (and 
labours)  "  of  this  present  time,  are  not  worthy  to  be 
compared  with  the  glory  that  shall  be  revealed."  We 
labour  but  for  a  moment,  but  we  shall  rest  for  ever. 
Who  would  not  put  forth  all  his  strength  for  one  hour, 
when  he  may  be  a  prince  while  he  lives  ? 

O,  what  is  the  duty  and  sufferings  for  a  short  life,  in 
respect  to  endless  joys  with  God  ?  Will  not  "  all  our 
tears  then  be  wiped  away  ?"  and  all  the  sorrows  of  our 
duties  forgotten  ?  But  yet  the  Lord  will  not  forget  them  : 
*'  for  he  is  not  unjust,  to  forget  our  work  and  labour  of 
love." 

13.  Consider,  violence  and  laborious  striving  for  sal- 
vation is  the  way  that  the  wisdom  of  God  hath  directed 
us  to  as  best,  and  his  sovereign  authority  appointed  us 
as  necessary.  Who  knows  the  way  to  heaven  better 
than  the  God  of  heaven  ?  When  men  tell  us  that  we 
are  too  strict,  whom  do  they  accuse,  God  or  us  ?  If  we 
do  no  more  than  what  we  are  commanded,  nor  so  much 
neither;  they  may  as  well  say,  God  hath  made  laws 
which  are  too  strict.  Sure  if  it  were  a  fault,  it  would 
lie  in  him  that  commands,  and  not  in  us  who  obey.  And 
dare  these  men  think  that  they  are  wiser  than  God  ?  Do 
they  know  better  than  he  what  men  must  do  to  be 
saved  ?  These  are  the  men  that  ask  us,  Whether  we 
are  wiser  than  all  the  world  beside  ?  and  yet  they  will 
pretend  to  be  wiser  than  God.  What  do  they  less, 
when  God  bids  us  take  the  most  diligent  course,  and 
they  tell  us,  it  is  more  ado  than  needs  ?  Mark  well  the 
language  of  God,  and  see  how  you  can  reconcile  it  with 
the  language  of  the  world  :  "  The  kingdom  of  heaven 
sufFereth  violence,  and  the  violent  take  it  by  force. 
Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate  ;  for  many  shall  seek 
to  enter  in,  and  not  be  able.     Whatsoever  thy  hand 


THE   saints'   everlasting  REST.  125 

iindeth  to  do,  do  it  with  all  thy  might :  for  there  is  no 
work,  nor  device,  nor  knowledge,  or  wisdom,  in  the 
grave,  whither  thou  goest.  Work  out  your  salvation 
with  fear  and  trembling.  Give  diligence  to  make  your 
calling  and  election  sure.  If  the  righteous  scarcely  be 
saved,  where  shall  the  ungodly  and  sinner  appear?" 

This  is  the  constant  language  of  Christ :  and  which 
shall  I  follow,  God  or  men ;  yea,  and  that  the  worst  and 
most  wicked  men  ?  Shall  I  think  that  every  ignorant 
worldly  sot,  that  can  only  call  a  man  a  puritan,  knows 
more  than  Christ,  or  can  tell  God  how  to  mend  the 
Scriptures?  Let  them  bring  all  the  seeming  reason 
they  can  against  the  holy,  violent  striving  of  the  saints  ; 
and  this  sufficeth  me  to  confute  them  all,  that  God  is  of 
another  mind,  and  he  hath  commanded  me  to  do  much 
more  than  I  do  :  and  though  I  could  see  no  reason  for 
it,  yet  his  will  is  reason  enough  to  me :  I  am  sure  God 
is  worthy  to  govern  us,  if  we  were  better  than  we  are. 
Who  should  make  laws  for  us,  but  he  that  made  us  ? 
And  who  should  mark  out  the  way  to  heaven,  but  he 
that  must  bring  us  thither  ?  And  who  should  determine 
on  what  conditions  we  shall  be  saved,  but  he  that  be- 
stows the  gift  of  salvation  ?  So  that  let  the  world,  or 
the  flesh,  or  the  devil,  speak  against  a  holy  laborious 
course,  this  is  my  answer,  God  hath  commanded  it. 

14.  Moreover,  it  is  a  course  that  all  men  in  the  world 
either  do,  or  will  approve  of.  There  is  not  a  man  that 
ever  was,  or  is,  or  shall  be,  but  shall  one  day  justify  the 
diligence  of  the  saints.  And  who  would  not  go  that 
way  which  every  man  shall  applaud  ? 

It  is  true,  it  is  now  a  way  everywhere  spoken  against 
and  hated;  but  let  me  tell  you,  1.  Most  that  speak 
against  it,  in  their  judgments  approve  of  it ;  only  be- 
cause the  practice  of  godliness  is  against  the  pleasures 
of  the  flesh,  therefore  do  they,  against  their  own  judg- 
ments, resist  it.  They  have  not  one  word  of  reason 
against  it,  but  reproaches  and  railing  are  their  best  ar- 
guments. 2.  Those  that  are  now  against  it,  whether  in 
judgment  or  passion,  will  shortly  be  of  another  mind. 
If  they  come  to  heaven,  their  mind  must  be  changed  be- 
fore they  come  there.  If  they  go  to  hell,  their  judgment 
will  then  be  altered,  whether  they  will  or  not. 


126 

If  you  could  speak  with  every  soul  that  sufFereth 
those  torments,  and  ask,  whether  it  be  possible  to  be  too 
diligent  and  serious  in  seeking  salvation  ?  you  may 
easily  conjecture  what  answer  they  would  return.  Take 
the  most  bitter  derider  or  persecutor  of  godliness,  even 
those  that  will  venture  their  lives  to  overthrow  it,  if 
those  men  do  not  shortly  wish  a  thousand  times  that 
they  had  been  the  most  holy,  diligent  Christians  on 
earth,  then  let  me  bear  the  shame  of  a  false  prophet  for 
ever. 

Remember  this,  you  that  will  be  of  the  opinion  and 
way  that  most  are  of:  why  will  you  not  be  of  the 
opinion  then  that  all  will  be  shortly  of?  Why  will  you 
be  of  a  judgment  which  you  are  sure  you  shall  all  short- 
ly change  ?  O  that  you  were  but  as  wise  in  this,  as  those 
in  hell. 

15.  Consider,  they  that  have  been  the  most  serious, 
painful  Christians,  when  they  come  to  die,  exceedingly 
lament  their  negligence.  Those  that  have  wholly  ad- 
dicted themselves  to  the  work  of  God,  and  have  made  it 
the  business  of  their  lives,  and  have  slighted  the  world, 
and  mortified  the  flesh,  and  have  been  the  wonders  of 
the  world  for  their  heavenly  conversations  ;  yet  when 
conscience  is  deeply  awakened,  how  do  their  failings 
wound  them?  Even  those  that  are  hated  and  derided 
by  the  world  for  being  so  strict,  and  are  thought  to  be 
almost  beside  themselves  for  their  extraordinary  dili- 
gence ;  yet  commonly  when  they  lie  a  dying,  wish,  O 
that  they  had  been  a  thousand  times  more  holy,  more 
heavenly,  more  laborious  for  their  souls  !  What  a  case 
then  will  the  negligent  world  be  in,  when  their  con- 
sciences are  awakened,  when  they  lie  dying,  and  look 
behind  them  upon  a  lazy,  negligent  life  ;  and  look  before 
them  upon  a  severe  and  terrible  judgment?  What  an 
esteem  will  they  have  of  a  holy  life  ?  For  my  own  part, 
I  may  say  as  Erasmus,  "They  accuse  me  for  doing 
too  much,  but  my  own  conscience  accuseth  me  for  doing 
too  little,  and  being  too  slow  ;  and  it  is  far  easier  bear- 
ing the  scorns  of  the  world,  than  the  scourges  of  con- 
science." The  world  speaks  at  a  distance  without  me, 
so  that  though  I  hear  their  words,  I  can  choose  whether 
I  will  feel  them ;  but  my  conscience  speaks  within,  at 


THE  saints'  everlasting  REST.  127 

the  very  heart,  so  that  every  check  doth  pierce  me  to 
the  quick.  Conscience,  when  it  reprehends  justly,  is 
the  messenger  of  God :  ungodly  revilers  are  the  voice 
of  the  devil.  I  had  rather  be  reproached  by  the  devil 
for  seeking  salvation,  than  reproved  of  God  for  neglect- 
ing it :  I  had  rather  the  world  should  call  me  puritan  in 
the  devil's  name,  than  conscience  should  call  me  a  loi- 
terer in  God's  name.  As  God  and  conscience  are  more 
useful  friends  than  Satan  and  the  world  ;  so  are  they 
more  dreadful,  irresistible  enemies. 

And  thus,  reader,  I  have  showed  thee  sufficient  reason 
against  thy  slothfulness  and  negligence,  if  thou  be  not  a 
man  resolved  to  shut  thine  eyes,  and  to  destroy  thyself. 
Yet,  lest  all  this  should  not  prevail,  I  will  add  somewhat 
more,  to  persuade  thee  to  be  serious  in  thy  endeavours 
for  heaven. 

1.  Consider,  God  is  in  good  earnest  with  you ;  and 
why  then  should  you  not  be  so  with  him  ?  In  his  com- 
mands, he  means  as  he  speaks,  and  will  verily  require 
your  real  obedience.  In  his  threatenings  he  is  serious, 
and  will  make  them  all  good  against  the  rebellious.  In 
his  promises  he  is  serious,  and  will  fulfil  them  to  the 
obedient,  even  to  the  least  tittle.  In  his  judgments  he 
is  serious,  as  he  will  make  his  enemies  know  to  their 
terror.  Was  not  God  in  good  earnest  when  he  drowned 
the  world,  when  he  consumed  Sodom  and  Gomorrah, 
when  he  scattered  the  Jews  ?  And  very  shortly  will  lay 
hold  on  his  enemies,  particularly  man  by  man,  and  make 
them  know  that  he  is  in  good  earnest :  especially  when 
it  comes  to  the  great  reckoning  day.  And  is  it  time 
then  for  us  to  dally  with  God  1 

2.  Jesus  Christ  was  serious  in  purchasing  our  re- 
demption. He  was  serious  in  teaching,  "  when  he  ne- 
glected his  meat  and  drink,"  John  iv,  32.  He  was  se- 
rious in  praying,  "  when  he  continued  all  night  at  it." 
He  was  serious  in  doing  good,  "  when  his  kindred  came 
and  laid  hands  on  him,  thinking  he  had  been  beside  him- 
self." He  was  serious  in  suffering,  "when  he  fasted 
forty  days,  was  tempted,  betrayed,  spit  on,  buffeted, 
crowned  with  thorns,  sweat  blood,  was  crucified,  pierced, 
died."  There  was  no  jesting  in  all  this.  And  should 
we  not  be  serious  in  seeking  our  own  salvation  ? 


128  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

3.  The  Holy  Ghost  is  serious  in  soliciting  us  for  our 
happiness.  His  motions  are  frequent,  and  pressing, 
and  importunate  :  he  striveth  with  our  hearts.  He  is 
grieved  when  we  resist  him  ;  and  should  not  we  then 
be  serious  in  obeying  his  motions,  and  yielding  to  his 
suit? 

4.  How  serious  and  diligent  are  all  the  creatures  in 
their  service  to  thee  !  "What  haste  makes  the  sun  to 
compass  the  world  !  And  how  truly  doth  it  return  at 
its  appointed  hour  !  So  do  the  moon  and  other  planets. 
The  springs  are  always  flowing  for  thy  use  ;  the  rivers 
still  running  ;  the  spring  and  harvest  keep  their  times. 
How  hard  doth  thy  ox  labour  for  thee  from  day  to  day ! 
How  painfully  and  speedily  doth  thy  horse  bear  thee  in 
travel !  And  shall  all  these  be  laborious,  and  thou  only 
negligent?  Shall  they  all  be  so  serious  in  serving  thee, 
and  yet  thou  be  so  slight  in  thy  service  to  God  ? 

5.  Consider,  the  servants  of  the  world  and  the  devil 
are  serious  and  diligent :  they  ply  their  work  continu- 
ally, as  if  they  could  never  do  enough  :  they  make 
haste,  and  march  furiously,  as  if  they  were  afraid  of 
coming  to  hell  too  late  :  they  bear  down  ministers,  and 
sermons,  and  counsel,  and  all,  before  them.  And  shall 
they  do  more  for  the  devil,  than  thou  wilt  do  for  God  ? 
Or  be  more  diligent  for  damnation,  than  thou  wilt  be  for 
salvation  ?  Hast  not  thou  a  better  master  ;  and  sweeter 
employment ;  and  sweeter  encouragement ;  and  a  better 
reward  ? 

6.  There  is  no  jesting  in  heaven  nor  in  hell.  The 
saints  have  a  real  happiness,  and  the  damned  a  real  mi- 
sery ;  the  saints  are  serious  and  high  in  their  joy  and 
praise,  and  the  damned  are  serious  and  deep  in  their  sor- 
row and  complaints.  There  are  no  remiss  or  sleepy 
praises  in  heaven ;  nor  any  remiss  or  sleepy  lamenta- 
tions in  hell :  all  men  there  are  in  good  earnest.  And 
should  we  not  then  be  serious  now  ?  I  dare  promise 
thee,  the  thoughts  of  these  things  will  shortly  be  se- 
rious thoughts  with  thyself.  When  thou  comest  to 
death  or  judgment,  O  what  deep  heart-piercing  thoughts 
wilt  thou  have  of  eternity  !  Methinks  I  foresee  thee 
already  astonished,  to  think  how  thou  could st  pos- 
sibly* make   so   light    of   these    things  !      Methinks  I 


THE    saints'    everlasting   REST.  l^ 

even  hear  thee  crying  out  of  thy  stupidity  and  mad- 
ness ! 

And  now  having  laid  thee  down  these  undeniable  ar- 
gum'ents,  I  do  in  the  name  of  God  demand  thy  resolu- 
tion. What  sayest  thou?  Wilt  thou  yield  obedience 
or  not  ?  I  am  confident  thy  conscience  is  convinced  of 
thy  duty.  Barest  thou  now  go  on  in  thy  common  care- 
less course,  against  the  plain  evidence  of  reason  and 
commands  of  God,  and  against  the  light  of  thy  own  con- 
science ?  Darest  thou  live  as  loosely,  and  sin  as  boldly, 
and  pray  as  seldom,  and  as  coldly  as  before  ?  Darest 
thou  now  as  carnally  spend  the  sabbath,  and  slumber 
over  the  service  of  God  as  slightly,  and  think  of  thine 
everlasting  state  as  carelessly,  as  before  ?  Or  dost  thou 
not  rather  resolve  to  gird  up  the  loins  of  thy  mind,  and 
to  set  thyself  wholly  about  the  work  of  thy  salvation  ; 
and  to  do  it  with  all  thy  might ;  and  to  break  over  all 
the  oppositions  of  the  world,  and  to  slight  all  their 
scorns  and  persecutions  :  "  to  cast  off  the  weight  that 
hangeth  on  thee  ;  and  the  sin  that  doth  so  easily  beset 
thee  ;  and  to  run  with  patience  and  speed  the  race  that 
is  set  before  thee  ?"  I  hope  these  are  thy  full  resolu- 
tions :  if  thou  art  well  in  thy  wits,  I  am  sure  they  are. 

Yet,  because  I  know  the  strange  obstinacy  of  the 
heart  of  man,  and  because  I  would  fain  leave  these  per- 
suasions fastened  in  thy  heart,  that  so,  if  it  be  possible, 
thou  mightest  be  awakened  to  thy  duty,  and  thy  soul 
might  live,  I  shall  proceed  with  thee  yet  a  little  farther : 
and  I  once  more  entreat  thee  to  stir  up  thy  attention, 
and  go  along  with  me  in  the  free  and  sober  use  of  thy 
reason,  while  I  propound  these  following  questions  : 
and  I  command  thee  from  God,  that  thou  resist  not  con- 
viction, but  answer  them  faithfully,  and  obey  accord- 
ingly- 

Question  1.  If  you  could  grow  rich  by  religion,  or 
get  lands  and  lordships  thereby  ;  or  if  you  could  get 
honour  or  preferment  by  it  in  the  world ;  or  could  be 
recovered  from  sickness  by  it ;  or  could  live  for  ever  in 
prosperity  on  earth  ;  what  kind  of  lives  would  you  then 
lead,  and  what  pains  would  you  take  in  the  service  of 
God  ?  And  is  not  the  rest  of  the  saints  a  more  excellent 
happiness  than  all  this  ? 

6* 


130 

Question  2.  If  the  law  of  the  land  did  punish  every 
breach  of  the  Sabbath,  or  every  omission  of  family  du- 
ties, or  secret  duties,  or  every  cold  and  heartless  prayer, 
with  death  :  if  it  were  felony  or  treason  to  be  negligent 
in  worship,  and  loose  in  your  lives  ;  what  manner  of  per- 
sons would  you  then  be,  and  what  lives  would  you  lead  ? 
And  is  not  eternal  death  more  terrible  than  temporal  ? 

Question  3.  If  it  were  God's  ordinary  course  to 
punish  every  sin  with  some  present  judgment,  so  that 
every  time  a  man  swears,  or  is  drunk,  or  speaks  a  lie, 
or  backbiteth  his  neighbour,  he  should  be  struck  dead, 
or  blind,  or  lame,  in  the  place  :  if  God  did  punish  every 
cold  prayer,  or  neglect  of  duty,  with  some  remarkable 
plague ;  what  manner  of  persons  would  you  be  ?  If  you 
should  suddenly  fall  down  dead,  like  Ananias  and  Sap- 
phira,  with  the  sin  in  your  hands ;  or  the  plague  of  God 
should  seize  upon  you,  as  upon  the  Israelites,  while 
their  sweet  morsels  were  yet  in  their  mouths  :  if  but  a 
mark  should  be  set  in  the  forehead  of  every  one  that 
neglected  a  duty,  or  committed  a  sin  ;  what  kind  of 
lives  would  you  then  lead  ?  And  is  not  eternal  wrath 
more  terrible  than  all  this  ? 

Question  4.  If  you  had  seen  the  general  dissolution 
of  the  world,  and  all  the  pomp  and  glory  of  it  consumed 
to  ashes  :  if  you  saw  all  on  fire  about  you,  sumptuous 
buildings,  cities,  kingdoms,  land,  water,  earth,  heaven, 
all  flaming  about  your  ears :  if  you  had  seen  all  that 
men  laboured  for,  and  sold  their  souls  for,  gone ;  friends 
gone  ;  the  place  of  your  former  abode  gone  ;  the  history 
ended,  and  all  come  down ;  what  would  such  a  sight  as 
this  persuade  you  to  do  ?  Why,  such  a  sight  thou  shall 
certainly  see.  I  put  my  question  to  thee  in  the  words 
of  the  apostle,  2  Peter  iii,  "  Seeing  all  these  things  shall 
be  dissolved,  what  manner  of  persons  ouglit  you  to  be 
in  all  holy  conversation  and  godliness,  looking  for,  and 
hasting  unto,  the  coming  of  the  day  of  God,  wherein 
the  heavens  being  on  fire  shall  be  dissolved,  aud  the 
elements  shall  melt  with  fervent  heat  ?"  As  if  he  should 
say,  we  cannot  possibly  conceive  or  express  what  man- 
ner of  persons  we  should  be  in  all  holiness  and  godli- 
ness, when  we  do  but  think  of  the  sudden,  and  certain, 
and  terrible  dissolution  of  all  thinsfs  below. 


THE  SAINTS     EVERLASTING  REST.  131 

Question  5.  What  if  you  had  seen  the  process  of 
the  judgment  of  the  great  day  ?  If  you  had  seen  the 
judgment  set,  and  the  books  opened,  and  the  most  stand 
trembling  on  the  left  hand  of  the  Judge,  and  Christ 
himself  accusing  them  of  their  rebellions  and  neglects, 
and  remembering  them  of  all  their  former  sligh tings  of 
his  grace,  and  at  last  condemning  them  to  perpetual 
perdition  ?  If  you  had  seen  the  godly  standing  on  the 
right  hand,  and  Jesus  Christ  acknowledging  their  faithful 
obedience,  and  adjudging  them  to  the  possession  of  the 
joy  of  their  Lord ;  what  manner  of  persons  would  you 
have  been  after  such  a  sight  as  this  ?  Why,  this  sight 
thou  shalt  one  day  see,  as  sure  as  thou  livest.  And  why 
then  should  not  the  foreknowledge  of  such  a  day  awake 
thee  to  thy  duty  ? 

Question  6.  What  .if  you  had  once  seen  hell  open, 
and  all  the  damned  there  in  their  ceaseless  torments, 
and  had  heard  them  crying  out  of  their  slothfulness  in 
the  day  of  their  visitation,  and  wishing  that  they  had 
but  another  life  to  live,  and  that  God  would  but  try 
them  once  again?  One  crying  out  of  his  neglect  of 
duty,  and  another  of  his  loitering  and  trifling,  when  he 
should  have  been  labouring  for  his  life ;  what  manner 
of  persons  would  you  have  been  after  such  a  sight  as 
this  ?  What  if  you  had  seen  heaven  opened,  as  Stephen 
did,  and  all  the  saints  there  triumphing  in  glory,  and 
enjoying  the  end  of  their  labours  and  suflerings  ;  what 
a  life  would  you  lead  after  such  a  sight  as  this  ?  Why, 
you  will  see  this  with  your  eyes,  before  it  be  long. 

Question  7.  What  if  you  had  lain  in  hell  but  one 
year,  or  one  day,  or  hour,  and  there  felt  those  torments 
that  now  you  do  but  hear  of;  and  God  should  turn  you 
into  the  world  again,  and  try  you  with  another  lifetime, 
and  say,  I  will  see  whether  thou  wilt  be  yet  any  better  ; 
what  manner  of  persons  would  you  be?  If  you  were 
to  live  a  thousand  years,  would  you  not  gladly  live  as 
strictly  as  the  precisest  saints,  and  spend  all  those  years 
in  prayer  and  duty,  so  you  might  but  escape  the  torment 
which  you  suffered  ?  How  seriously  then  Avould  you 
speak  of  hell !  and  pray  against  it !  and  hear,  and  read, 
and  watch,  and  obey !  How  earnestly  would  you  ad- 
monish the  careless  to  take  heed,  and  look  about  them 


132  THE  SAINTS    EVERLASTING  REST. 

to  prevent  their  ruin !  And  will  not  you  take  God's 
word  for  the  truth  of  this,  except  you  feel  it  ?  Is  it  not 
your  wisdom  to  do  as  much  now  to  prevent  it,  as  you 
would  do  to  remove  it  when  it  is  too  late  ?  Is  it  not 
more  wisdom  to  spend  this  life  in  labouring  for  heaven, 
while  ye  have  it,  than  to  lie  in  torment,  wishing  for  more 
time  in  vain  ? 

And  thus  I  have  said  enough,  if  not  to  stir  up  the  lazy 
sinner  to  a  serious  working  out  his  salvation,  yet  at  least 
to  silence  him,  and  leave  him  inexcusable  at  the  judg- 
ment of  God.  If  thou  canst,  after  reading  all  this,  go 
on  in  the  same  neglect  of  God,  and  thy  soul,  and  draw 
out  the  rest  of  thy  life  in  the  same  dull  and  careless 
course,  as  thou  hast  hitherto  done ;  and  if  thou  hast  so 
far  stupified  thy  conscience  that  it  will  quietly  sufler 
thee  to  forget  all  this,  and  to  trifle  out  the  rest  of  thy 
time  in  the  business  of  the  world,  when  in  the  mean- 
Avhile  thy  salvation  is  in  danger,  and  the  Judge  is  at  the 
door  ;  I  have  then  no  more  to  say  to  thee :  it  is  as  good 
to  speak  to  a  rock.  Only  as  we  do  by  our  friends,  when 
they  are  dead,  and  our  words  and  actions  can  do  them 
no  good,  yet  to  testify  our  affections,  we  weep  and  mourn 
for  them ;  so  will  I  also  do  for  these  souls.  It  makes 
my  heart  even  tremble  to  think  how  they  will  stand 
trembling  before  the  Lord  !  and  how  confounded  and 
speechless  they  will  be  when  Christ  shall  reason  with 
them  concerning  their  negligence  and  sloth !  When  he 
shall  say,  as  the  Lord  doth  in  Jeremiah  ii,  5,  9,  11,  13, 
"  What  iniquity  have  your  fathers  (or  you)  found  in  me, 
that  ye  are  gone  far  from  me,  and  have  walked  after 
vanity?  Did  I  ever  wrong  you,  or  do  you  any  harm, 
or  ever  discourage  you  from  following  my  service  ? 
Was  my  way  so  bad  that  you  could  not  endure  it?  or  my 
service  so  base  that  you  could  not  stoop  to  it  ?  Did  I 
stoop  to  the  fulfilling  of  the  law  for  you,  and  could  not 
you  stoop  to  fulfil  the  easy  conditions  of  my  Gospel? 
Was  the  world,  or  Satan,  a  better  friend  to  you  than  I  ? 
Or  had  they  done  for  you  more  than  I  had  done  ?  Try 
now  whether  they  will  save  you  ;  or  whether  they  will 
recompense  you  for  the  loss  of  heaven  ;  or  whether  they 
will  be  as  good  to  you  as  I  would  have  been."  O 
what  will  the  wretched  sinner  answer  to  anv  of  this ! 


THE   saints'  everlasting  REST. 

But,  though  man  will  not  hear,  yet  we  may  have  \ 
in  speaking  to  God  :  Lord,  smite  these  rocks  till 
gush  forth  waters  :  though  these  ears  are  deaf,  sa 
them,  Ephphatha,  be  opened  ;  though  these  sinneri 
dead,  let  that  power  speak  which  sometime  said,  " 
zarus,  arise  !"     We  know  they  will  be  awakened  ati 
last  resurrection  :  O,  but  then  it  will  be  only  to  thoir 
sorrow  !     O,  thou  that  didst  weep  and  groan  over  dead 
Lazarus,  pity  these  sad  and  senseless  souls,  till  they  are 
able  to  weep  and  groan  for,  and  pity  themselves.     As 
thou  hast  bid  thy  servants  speak,  so  speak  now  thyself; 
they  will  hear  thy  voice  speaking  to  their  hearts,  that 
will  not  hear  mine  speaking  to  their  ears.     Long  hast 
thou  knocked  at  these  hearts  in  vain  ;  now  break  thp 
doors,  and  enter  in. 

Yet  I  will  add  a  few  more  words  to  good  men  in  par- 
ticular, to  show  them  why  they  above  all  men  should  be 
laborious  for  heaven ;  and  that  there  is  a  great  deal  of 
reason,  that  though  all  the  world  sit  still,  yet  they 
should  abhor  that  laziness  and  negligence,  and  lay  out 
all  their  strength  on  the  work  of  God.  To  this  end,  I 
desire  them  also  to  answer  soberly  to  these  few  ques- 
tions ? 

Question  1.  What  manner  of  persons  should  those 
be,  who  have  felt  the  smart  of  their  negligence  in  the 
new  birth,  in  their  several  wounds  and  trouble  of  con- 
science, in  their  doubts  and  fears,  in  their  various  afflic- 
tions ;  they  that  have  groaned  and  cried  out  so  oft, 
luider  the  sense  and  effects  of  their  negligence,  and  are 
like  enough  to  feel  it  again,  if  they  do  not  reform  it? 
Sure  one  would  think  they  should  be  slothful  no  more. 

Question  2.  What  manner  of  persons  should  those 
be,  who  have  bound  themselves  to  God,  by  so  many  co- 
venants as  we  have  done,  and  in  special  have  covenanted 
so  oft  to  be  more  painful  and  faithful  in  his  service ?  At 
every  sacrament ;  on  many  days  of  humiliation  and 
thanksgiving  ;  in  most  of  our  deep  distresses  and  dan- 
gerous sicknesses  ;  we  are  still  ready  to  bewail  our 
neglects,  and  to  engage  ourselves,  if  God  will  but  try 
us  and  trust  us  once  again,  how  diligent  and  laborious 
we  will  be,  and  how  we  will  improve  our  time,  and  re- 
prove oflenders,  and  watch  over  ourselves,  and  ply  our 


134  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

work ;  and  do  him  more  service  in  a  day  than  we  did  in 
a  month?  The  Lord  pardon  our  perfidious  covenant- 
breaking  ;  and  grant  that  our  engagements  may  not 
condemn  us. 

Question  3.  What  manner  of  men  should  they  be  in 
duty  who  have  received  so  much  encouragement  as  we 
have  done  ?  who  have  tasted  such  sweetness  in  dili- 
gent obedience  as  doth  much  more  than  countervail  all 
the  pains  ;  who  have  so  oft  had  experience  of  the  wide 
difference  between  lazy  and  laborious  duty,  by  their  dif- 
ferent issues  ;  who  have  found  all  our  lazy  duties  un- 
fruitful :  and  all  our  strivings  a^nd  wrestlings  Mith  God 
successful,  so  that  we  were  never  importunate  with  God 
in  vain  ?  We  who  have  had  so  many  deliverances  upon 
urgent  seeking  ;  and  have  received  almost  all  our  solid 
comforts  in  a  way  of  close  and  constant  duty  :  how 
should  we,  above  all  men,  ply  our  Avork  ? 

Question  4.  What  manner  of  persons  should  they  be 
in  holiness  who  have  so  much  of  the  great  work  yet 
undone?  So  many  sins  in  so  great  strength  ;  graces 
weak  ;  sanctification  imperfect ;  corruptions  still  work- 
ing, and  taking  advantage  of  all  our  omission  ?  When 
we  are  as  a  boatman  on  the  water  ;  let  him  row  never 
so  hard,  a  month  together,  yet  if  he  do  but  slack  his 
hand,  and  think  to  ease  himself,  his  boat  goes  faster 
down  the  stream  than  before  it  went  up  :  so  do  our 
souls,  when  we  think  to  ease  ourselves  by  abating  our 
pains  in  duty.  Our  time  is  short :  our  enemies  mighty : 
our  hinderances  many  :  God  seems  yet  at  a  distance 
from  many  of  us  :  our  thoughts  of  him  are  dull  and  un- 
believing :  our  acquaintance  and  communion  with  Christ 
is  small,  and  our  desires  to  be  with  him  are  as  small ; 
and  should  men  in  our  case  stand  still  ? 

Question  5.  Lastly,  what  manner  of  persons  should 
they  be  on  whom  the  glory  of  the  great  God  doth  so 
much  depend  ?  Men  will  judge  of  the  father  by  the 
children,  and  of  the  master  by  the  servants.  We  bear 
his  image,  and  therefore  men  will  measure  him  by  his 
representation.  He  is  nowhere  in  the  world  so  lively 
represented  as  in  his  saints  :  and  shall  they  set  him 
forth  as  a  pattern  of  idleness  ?  All  the  world  is  not  ca- 
pable of  honouring  or  dishonouring  God  so  much  as  we: 


EVERLASTING  REST.  135 

and  the  least  of  the  honour  is  of  more  worth  than  all 
our  lives.  Seeing  then  that  all  these  things  are  so,  I 
charge  thee  that  art  a  Christian,  in  my  Master's  name, 
to  consider  and  resolve  the  question,  "  What  manner  of 
persons  ought  we  to  be  in  all  holy  conversation  and 
godliness  ?"  And  let  thy  life  answer  the  question  as  well 
as  thy  tongue. 

I  have  been  larger  upon  this  use,  partly  because  of 
the  general  neglect  of  heaven,  that  all  sorts  are  guilty 
of;  partly  because  men's  salvation  depends  upon  their 
present  striving  and  seeking ;  partly  because  the  doc- 
trine of  free  grace  misunderstood,  is  lately  so  abused,  to 
the  cherishing  of  sloth  and  security  ;  partly  because 
many  eminent  men  of  late  do  judge  that  to  work  or  la- 
bour for  life  and  salvation  is  mercenary,  legal,  and  dan- 
gerous ;  which  doctrine,  (as  I  have  said  before,)  were  it 
by  the  owners  reduced  into  practice,  would  undoubtedly 
damn  them  :  because  they  that  seek  not,  shall  not  find  ; 
and  they  that  strive  not  to  enter,  shall  be  shut  out ;  and 
they  that  labour  not,  shall  not  be  crowned  ;  and,  partly 
because  it  is  grown  the  custom,  instead  of  striving  for 
the  kingdom,  and  contending  for  the  faith,  to  strive  with 
each  other  about  uncertain  controversies,  and  to  contend 
about  the  circumstantials  of  faith  ;  wherein  the  kingdom 
of  God  doth  no  more  consist  than  in  meats,  or  drinks, 
or  genealogies.  Sirs,  shall  we  who  are  brethren  fall 
out  by  the  way  home,  and  spend  so  much  of  our  time 
about  the  smaller  matters,  which  thousands  have  been 
saved  without,  but  never  any  one  saved  by  them,  while 
Christ  and  our  eternal  rest  are  almost  forgotten  ?  The 
Lord  pardon  and  heal  the  folly  of  his  people ! 


CHAPTER  A^I. 

THE  THIRD  USE. —  PERSUADING  ALL  MEN  TO  TRY  THEIR  TITLE  TO 
THIS  REST  ;  AND  DIRECTING  THEM  HOW  TO  TRY,  THAT  THEY 
MAY  KNOW. 

I  NOW  proceed  to  the  third  use ;  and  because  it  is  of 
very  great  importance,  I  entreat  thee  to  weigh  it  the 
more  seriously. 


136  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

Is  there  such  a  glorious  rest  so  near  at  hand  ?  And 
shall  none  enjoy  it  but  the  people  of  God  ?  What  mean 
the  most  of  the  world,  then,  to  live  so  contentedly  with- 
out the  assurance  of  their  interest  in  this  rest  ?  And  to 
neglect  the  trying  of  their  title  to  it,  when  the  Lord  hath 
so  fully  opened  the  blessedness  of  that  kingdom  which 
none  but  obedient  believers  shall  possess  ;  and  so  fully 
express  those  torments  which  all  the  rest  of  the  world 
must  eternally  suffer  ?  A  man  would  think  now  that 
they  who  believe  this  should  never  be  at  any  quiet  till 
they  were  heirs  of  the  kingdom.  Most  men  say  they 
believe  this  word  of  God  to  be  true  :  how  then  can  they 
sit  still  in  such  an  utter  uncertainty,  whether  ever  they 
shall  live  in  rest  or  not  ?  Lord,  what  a  wonderful  mad- 
ness is  this,  that  men  who  know  they  must  presently 
enter  upon  unchangeable  joy  or  pain,  should  yet  live  as 
micertain  what  shall  be  their  doom  as  if  they  had  never 
heard  of  any  such  state  :  yea,  and  live  as  quietly,  and  as 
merrily,  in  this  uncertainty,  as  if  nothing  ailed  them,  and 
there  were  no  danger  ! 

Are  these  men  alive  or  dead  ?  Are  they  waking  or 
asleep?  What  do  they  think  on?  Where  are  their 
hearts  ?  If  they  have  but  a  weighty  suit  at  law,  how 
careful  are  they  to  know  whether  it  will  go  for  them  or 
against  them  ?  If  they  were  to  be  tried  for  their  lives, 
how  careful  would  they  be  to  know  whether  they  should 
be  saved  or  condemned,  especially  if  their  care  might 
surely  save  them  ?  If  they  be  dangerously  sick,  they 
will  inquire  of  the  physician,  What  think  you,  sir,  shall 
I  escape  or  not  ?  But  for  the  business  of  their. salvation, 
they  are  content  to  be  uncertain.  If  you  ask  most  men 
a  reason  of  their  hopes  to  be  saved,  they  will  say,  it  is 
because  God  is  merciful,  and  Christ  died  for  sinners,  and 
the  like  general  reasons  ;  which  any  man  in  the  world 
may  give  as  well  as  they ,  but  put  them  to  prove  their 
interest  in  Christ,  and  the  saving  mercy  of  God,  and  they 
can  say  nothing  at  all ;  at  least  nothing  out  of  their 
hearts  and  experience. 

If  God  should  ask  them  for  their  souls,  as  he  did  Cain 
for  his  brother  Abel,  they  could  return  but  such  an  an- 
swer as  he  did.  If  God  or  man  should  say  to  them, 
What  case  is  thy  soul  in,  man  ?    Is  it  regenerated  and 


THE   saints'   everlasting  REST.  137 

pardoned,  or  not  ?  Is  it  in  a  state  of  life,  or  a  state  of 
death  ?  He  would  be  ready  to  say  I  know  not,  am  I 
my  soul's  keeper  ?  I  hope  well ;  I  trust  God  with  my 
soul ;  I  shall  speed  as  well  as  other  men  do ;  I  thank 
God  I  never  made  any  doubt  of  my  salvation.  Thou 
hast  the  more  cause  to  doubt  a  great  deal,  because  thou 
never  didst  doubt ;  and  yet  more,  because  thou  hast  been 
so  careless  in  thy  confidence.  What  do  these  expres- 
sions discover,  but  a  wilful  neglect  of  thy  own  salva- 
tion ?  As  a  ship  master  that  should  let  his  vessel  alone, 
and  say,  I  will  venture  it  among  the  rocks,  and  the 
waves,  and  winds  ;  I  will  trust  God  with  it ;  it  will 
speed  as  well  as  other  vessels  do.  Indeed  as  well  as 
other  men's  that  are  as  careless  and  idle,  but  not  so  well 
as  other  men's  that  are  diligent  and  watchful.  AYhat 
horrible  abuse  of  God  is  this,  for  men  to  pretend  they 
trust  God,  to  cloak  their  own  wilful  negligence  !  If  thou 
didst  truly  trust  God,  thou  wouldst  also  be  ruled  by  him, 
and  trust  him  in  that  way  which  he  hath  appointed  thee. 
He  requires  thee  to  "  give  all  diligence  to  make  thy 
calling  and  election  sure,"  and  so  to  trust  him,  2  Peter 
1,  10.  He  hath  marked  thee  out  a  way  by  which  thou 
mayest  come  to  be  sure  ;  and  charged  thee  to  search  and 
try  thyself  till  thou  certainly  know.  Were  he  not  a 
foolish  traveller  that  would  go  on  when  he  doth  not 
know  whether  it  be  right  or  wrong  ;  and  say,  I  hope  I 
am  right;  I  will  go  on  and  trust  God?  Art  thou  not 
guilty  of  this  folly  in  thy  travels  to  eternity  ?  Not  con- 
sidering that  a  little  serious  inquiry,  whether  the  Avay  be 
right,  might  save  thee  a  great  deal  of  labour  which  thou 
bestowest  in  vain,  and  must  undo  again,  or  else  thou 
wilt  miss  of  salvation,  and  undo  thyself.  Did  I  not 
know  what  a  desperate,  blind,  carnal  heart  is,  I  should 
wonder  how  thou  dost  to  keep  off  continual  terrors  from 
thy  heart ;  and  especially  in  these  cases  following : 

1.  I  wonder  how  thou  canst  either  think  or  speak  of 
the  dreadful  God  without  exceeding  terror  and  astonish- 
ment, as  long  as  thou  art  uncertain  whether  he  be  thy 
father  or  thy  enemy,  and  knowest  not  but  all  his  attri- 
butes may  be  employed  against  thee.  If  his  "  saints 
must  rejoice  before  him  with  trembling,  and  serve  hira 
with  fear  ;"  if  they  that  are  sure  to  receive  the  immov- 


138  THE  saints'   everlasting  REST. 

able  kingdom,  must  yet  serve  God  "  with  reverence  and 
godly  fear,"  because  "  he  is  a  consuming  fire  :"  how- 
terrible  should  the  remembrance  of  him_  be  to  them  that 
know  not  but  this  fire  may  for  ever  consume  them. 

2.  How  dost  thou  think  without  trembling,  upon 
Jesus  Christ,  when  thou  knowest  not  whether  his  blood 
hath  purged  thy  soul  or  not ;  and  whether  he  will  con- 
demn thee  or  acquit  thee  in  judgment :  nor  whether  he 
be  the  corner  stone  and  foundation  of  thy  happiness,  or 
a  stone  of  stumbling  to  break  thee,  and  grind  thee  to 
powder  ? 

3.  How  canst  thou  open  the  Bible  and  read  a  chapter, 
or  hear  a  chapter  read,  but  it  should  terrify  thee  ?  Me- 
thinks  every  leaf  should  be  to  thee  as  Belshazzar's  writ- 
ing on  the  wall,  except  only  that  which  draws  thee  to 
try  and  reform.  If  thou  read  the  promises,  thou  know- 
est not  whether  ever  they  shall  be  fulfilled  to  thee,  be- 
cause thou  art  uncertain  of  thy  performance  of  the  con- 
dition. If  thou  read  the  threatenings,  for  any  thing  thou 
knowest,  thou  dost  read  thy  own  sentence.  I  do  not  won- 
der if  thou  art  an  enemy  to  plain  preaching,  and  if  thou 
say  of  it,  and  of  the  minister  and  Scripture  itself,  as 
Ahab  of  the  prophet,  "  I  hate  him,  for  he  doth  not  pro- 
phesy good  concerning  me,  but  evil." 

4.  What  comfort  canst  thou  find  in  any  thing  which 
thou  possessest?  Methinks  friends,  and  honours,  and 
houses,  and  lands  should  do  thee  little  good,  till  thou 
know  thou  hast  the  love  of  God  withal,  and  shalt  have 
rest  with  him  when  thou  leavest  these.  Ofter  to  a  pri- 
soner, before  he  know  his  sentence,  either  music,  or 
clothes,  or  lands,  or  preferment,  and  what  cares  he  for 
any  of  these,  till  he  know  how  he  shall  escape  for  his 
life  ?  Then  he  will  look  after  these  comforts  of  life,  and 
not  before  ;  for  he  knows  if  he  must  die  the  next  day,  it 
will  be  small  comfort  to  die  rich  or  honourable.  Even 
when  thou  liest  down  to  take  thy  rest,  methinks  the  un- 
certainty of  thy  salvation  should  keep  thee  waking,  or 
amaze  thee  in  thy  dreams,  and  trouble  thy  sleep ;  and  thou 
shouldst  say,  as  Job  in  a  smaller  distress  than  thine.  Job 
vii,  13,  14,  "  When  I  say,  my  bed  shall  comfort  me,  my 
couch  shall  ease  my  complaint,  then  thou  scarest  me 
through  dreams,  and  terrifiest  me  through  visions." 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  139 

5.  What  shift  dost  thou  make  to  think  of  thy  dying 
hour  ?  Thou  knowest  it  is  hard  by,  and  there  is  no 
avoiding  it,  nor  any  medicine  found  out  that  can  prevent 
it :  thou  knowest  it  is  the  king  of  terror.,  and  the  inlet 
to  thine  unchangeable  state.  If  thou  shouldst  die  this 
day,  (and  "  who  knows  what  a  day  may  bring  forth  ?") 
thou  dost  not  know  whether  thou  shalt  go  straight  to 
heaven  or  hell.  And  canst  thou  be  merry  till  thou  art 
got  out  of  this  dangerous  state  1 

6.  What  shift  dost  thou  make  to  preserve  thy  heart 
from  horror,  when  thou  rememberest  the  great  judgment 
day,  and  the  everlasting  flames  ?  Dost  thou  not  tremble 
as  Felix,  when  thou  hearest  of  it  ?  and  as  the  elders  of 
the  town  trembled  when  Samuel  came  to  it,  saying, 
Comest  thou  peaceably  ?  So  methinks  thou  shouldst 
do  when  the  minister  comes  into  the  pulpit :  and  thy 
heart,  whenever  thou  meditatest  of  that  day,  should  me- 
ditate terror  ;  and  thou  shouldst  even  be  a  terror  to  thy- 
self and  all  thy  friends.  If  the  keepers  trembled,  and 
became  as  dead  men,  when  they  did  but  see  the  angels. 
Matt,  xxviii,  3,  4,  how  canst  thou  think  of  living  in  hell 
with  devils,  till  thou  hast  got  some  sound  assurance  that 
thou  shalt  escape  it  ?  Or  if  thou  seldom  think  of  these 
things,  the  wonder  is  as  great,  what  shift  thou  makest 
to  keep  these  thoughts  from  thy  heart  1  Thy  bed  is 
very  soft,  or  thy  heart  is  very  hard,  if  thou  canst  sleep 
soundly  in  this  uncertain  case. 

I  have  showed  thee  the  danger ;  let  me  next  proceed 
to  show  thee  the  remedy. 

If  this  general  uncertainty  of  the  world  about  their 
salvation  were  remediless,  then  must  it  be  borne  as  other 
unavoidable  miseries  :  but,  alas,  the  common  cause  is 
wilfulness  and  negligence  :  men  will  not  be  persuaded 
to  use  the  remedy,  though  it  be  at  hand,  prescribed  to 
them  by  God  himself,  and  all  necessary  helps  thereunto 
provided  for  them.  The  great  means  to  conquer  this 
uncertainty,  is  self-examination,  or  the  serious  and  dili- 
gent trying  of  a  man's  heart  and  state  by  the  rule  of 
Scripture.  But,  alas,  either  men  understand  not  the 
nature  and  use  of  this  duty,  or  else  they  will  not  be  at 
the  pains  to  try.  Go  through  a  congregation  of  a  thou^ 
gand  men,  and  how  few  of  them  will  you  meet  with  that 


140  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

ever  bestowed  one  hour  in  all  their  lives  in  a  close 
examination  of  their  title  to  heaven?  Ask  thy  own 
conscience,  reader,  when  was  the  time,  and  where  was 
the  place  that  ever  thou  solemnly  tookcdst  thy  heart  to 
task,  as  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  examinedst  it  by  Scrip- 
ture, whether  it  be  born  again  or  not  ?  Whether  it  be 
holy  or  not?  Whether  it  be  set  most  on  God  or  on 
creatures,  on  heaven  or  earth  ?  And  didst  follow  on  this 
examination  till  thou  hadst  discovered  thy  condition, 
and  so  passed  sentence  on  thyself  accordingly  ? 

But  because  this  is  a  work  of  so  high  concernment, 
and  so  commonly  neglected,  I  will  therefore, 

1.  Show  you  that  it  is  possible,  by  trying,  to  come  to 
a  certainty. 

2.  Show  you  the  hinderances  that  keep  men  from 
trying,  and  from  assurance. 

3.  I  will  lay  down  some  motives  to  persuade  you  to  it. 

4.  I  will  give  you  some  directions  how  to  perform  it. 

5.  And,  lastly,  I  will  lay  you  down  some  marks  out 
of  Scripture,  by  which  you  may  try,  and  come  to  an 
infallible  certainty,  whether  you  arc  the  people  of  God 
or  not. 

And,  1.  I  shall  show  you  that  a  certainty  of  salvation 
may  be  attained,  and  ought  to  be  laboured  for ;  which 

1  maintain  by  these  arguments : — 

1.  Scripture  tells  us  we  may  know,  and  that  the  saints 
before  us  have  known  their  justification  and  salvation, 

2  Cor.  V,  1 ;  Romans  viii,  36  ;  John  xxi,  15  ;  1  John  v, 
19,  iv,  13,  iii,  14,  24,  ii,  3,  5  ;  Rom.  viii,  14, 19  ;  Eph.  iii, 
12.     I  refer  you  to  the  places  for  brevity. 

2.  If  we  may  be  certain  of  the  premises,  then  may 
we  also  be  certain  of  the  conclusion.  But  here  we  may 
be  certain  of  both  the  premises.  For,  1.  "That  who- 
soever believeth  in  Christ  shall  not  perish,  but  have 
everlasting  life,"  is  the  voice  of  the  Gospel ;  and, 
therefore,  that  we  may  be  sure  of.  That  we  are  such 
believers,  may  be  known  by  conscience  and  internal 
sense. 

3.  The  Scripture  would  never  make  such  a  wide 
difference  between  the  children  of  God,  and  the  chil- 
dren of  the  devil,  and  set  forth  the  happiness  of  the 
one,  and  the  misery  of  the  other,  and  make  this  difler 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  141 

ence  to  run  through  all  the  veins  of  its  doctrine,  if  a 
man  cannot  know  which  of  these  two  states  he  is  in. 

4.  Much  less  would  the  Holy  Ghost  bid  us  "  give  all 
diligence  to  make  our  calling  and  election  sure,"  if  it 
could  not  be  done,  2  Peter  i,  10. 

5.  And  to  what  purpose  should  we  be  so  earnestly- 
urged  to  examine,  and  prove,  and  try  ourselves,  whether 
we  be  in  the  faith,  and  whether  Christ  be  in  us,  or  we 
be  reprobates  ?  1  Cor.  xi,  28,  xiii,  5.  Why  should  Vve 
search  for  that  which  cannot  be  found? 

6.  How  can  we  obey  those  precepts  which  require  us 
to  rejoice  always  ?  1  Thess.  v,  16 ;  to  call  God  our 
Father,  Luke  xi,  13 ;  to  live  in  his  praises,  Psa.  xlix,  1-5 ; 
and  to  long  for  Christ's  coming,  Rev.  xxii,  17,  20;  2 
Thess.  i,  10  ;  and  to  comfort  ourselves  with  the  men- 
tion of  it,  1  Thess.  iv,  18  ;  which  are  all  the  consequents 
of  assurance  ?  Who  can  do  any  of  these  heartily,  that 
is  not  in  some  measure  sure  that  he  is  a  child  of  God  ? 

The  second  thing  I  promised  is,  to  show  you  what 
are  the  hinderances  w^hich  keep  men  from  examination 
and  assurance.  I  shall,  1.  Show  what  hinders  them 
from  trying  ;  and,  2.  What  hindercth  them  from  knowing 
when  they  do  try ;  that  so  when  you  see  the  impedi- 
ments, you  may  avoid  them. 

And,  1.  We  cannot  doubt  but  Satan  will  do  his  part 
to  hinder  us  from  such  a  necessary  duty  as  this  ;  if  all 
the  power  he  hath  can  do  it,  or  all  the  means  and  instru- 
ments which  he  can  raise  up.  He  is  loath  the  godly 
should  have  that  assurance  and  advantage  against  cor- 
ruption v/hich  faithful  self-examination  would  procure 
them  ;  and  for  the  ungodly  he  knows  that  if  they  should 
once  fall  close  to  this,  they  would  find  out  his  deceits 
and  their  own  danger.  If  they  did  but  faithfully  perform 
this  duty,  he  were  likely  to  lose  most  of  his  subjects. 
If  the  snare  be  not  hid,  the  bird  will  escape  it :  Satan 
knows  how  to  angle  for  souls  better  than  to  show  them 
the  hook  or  line,  and  to  fright  them  away  with  a  noise, 
or  with  his  own  appearance. 

Therefore  he  labours  to  keep  them  from  a  searching 
ministry  :  or  to  keep  the  minister  from  helping  them  to 
search  :  or  to  take  off  the  edge  of  the  word  that  it  may 
not  pierce ;  or  to  turn  away  their  thoughts,  or  possess 


143  THE   SAINTS     EVERLASTING  REST. 

them  with  prejudice.  Satan  is  acquainted  with  all  the 
preparations  of  the  minister ;  he  knows  when  he  hath 
provided  a  searching  sermon,  fitted  to  the  state  and 
necessity  of  a  hearer ;  and  therefore  he  will  keep  him 
away  that  day,  if  it  be  possible,  or  else  cast  him  asleep, 
or  steal  away  the  word  by  the  cares  and  talk  of  the 
world,  or  some  way  prevent  its  operation. 

This  is  the  first  hinderance. 

3.  Wicked  men  also  are  great  impediments  to  poor 
sinners  when  they  should  examine  and  discover  their 
estates. 

1.  Their  examples  hinder  much.  When  an  ignorant 
sinner  seeth  all  his  friends  and  neighbours  do  as  he 
doth,  yea,  the  rich  and  learned  as  well  as  others,  this 
is  an  exceeding  great  temptation  to  proceed  in  his  se- 
curity. 

2.  The  merry  company  and  discourse  of  these  men 
do  take  away  the  thoughts  of  his  spiritual  state,  and 
make  the  understanding  drunk  :  so  that  if  the  Spirit 
had  before  put  into  them  any  jealousy  of  themselves, 
or  any  purpose  to  try  themselves,  these  do  soon  quench 
all. 

3.  Also  their  continual  discourse  of  matters  of  the 
world  doth  damp  all  these  purposes. 

4.  Their  railings  also,  and  scorning  at  godly  persons, 
is  a  very  great  impedimeut  to  multitudes  of  souls,  and 
possesseth  them  with  such  a  prejudice  and  dislike  of 
the  way  to  heaven,  that  they  settle  in  the  way  they 
are  in. 

5.  Their  constant  persuasions,  allurements,  and 
threats  hinder  much.  God  doth  scarce  ever  open  the 
eyes  of  a  poor  sinner  to  see  that  his  way  is  wrong,  but 
presently  there  is  a  multitude  of  Satan's  apostles  ready 
to  flatter  him,  and  daub,  and  deceive,  and  settle  him 
again  in  the  quiet  possession  of  his  former  master. 
What,  say  they,  do  you  make  a  doubt  of  your  salvation, 
who  have  lived  so  well,  and  done  nobody  harm  ?  God 
is  merciful :  and  if  such  as  you  shall  not  be  saved,  God 
lielp  a  great  many.  What  do  you  think  is  become  of 
all  your  forefathers  ?  And  what  will  become  of  all  your 
friends  and  neighbours  that  live  as  you  do  ?  Will  they 
all  be  damned  ?    Shall  none  be  saved,  think  you,  but  a 


THE   SAINTS     EVERLASTING   REST.  143 

few  strict  ones  ?  Come,  come,  if  you  hearken  to  these 
books  or  preachers,  they  will  drive  you  to  despair,  or 
drive  you  out  of  your  wits.  Thus  do  they  follow  the 
soul  that  is  escaping  from  Satan,  with  restless  cries, 
till  they  have  brought  him  back.  O,  how  many  thou- 
sands have  such  charms  kept  asleep  in  security,  till 
death  and  hell  have  awakened  and  better  informed 
them !  The  Lord  calls  to  the  sinner,  and  tells  him, 
"The  gate  is  strait,  the  way  is  narrow,  and  few  find  it: 
try  and  examine  whether  thou  be  in  the  faith  or  not : 
give  all  diligence  to  make  sure  in  time."  And  the  world 
cries  out  clean  the  contrary,  "  Never  doubt,  never 
trouble  yourselves  with  these  thoughts."  I  entreat  the 
sinner  that  is  in  this  strait  to  consider  that  it  is  Christ, 
and  not  their  fathers,  or  mothers,  or  neighbours,  or 
friends,  that  must  judge  them  :  and  if  Christ  condemn 
them,  these  cannot  save  them :  and  therefore  common 
reason  may  tell  them  that  it  is  not  from  the  words  of 
ignorant  men,  but  from  the  word  of  God  that  they  must 
fetch  their  hopes  of  salvation. 

When  Ahab  would  inquire  among  the  multitudes  of 
flattering  prophets,  it  was  his  death.  They  can  flatter 
men  into  the  snare,  but  they  cannot  bring  them  out.  O, 
take  the  counsel  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  Ephesians  v,  6,  7, 
"  Let  no  man  deceive  you  with  vain  v/ords  :  for  be- 
cause of  these  things  cometh  the  wrath  of  God  upon 
the  children  of  disobedience.  Be  not  ye  therefore  par- 
takers with  them  :"  but  save  yourselves  from,  this  unto- 
ward generation. 

3.  But  the  greatest  hinderances  are  in  men's  own 
hearts. 

1.  Some  are  so  ignorant  that  they  know  not  what  self- 
examination  'is,  nor  what  a  minister  means  when  he 
pcrsuadeth  them  to  try  themselves  ;  or  they  know  not 
that  there  is  any  necessity  of  it ;  but  think  every  man 
is  bound  to  believe  that  God  is  his  Father,  and  that  his 
sins  are  pardoned,  whether  it  be  true  or  false  ;  and  that 
it  were  a  great  fault  to  make  any  question  of  it:  or  they 
do  not  think  that  assurance  can  be  attained  :  or  that 
there  is  any  such  great  difference  betwixt  one  man  and 
another:  but  that  we  are  all  Christians,  and  therefore 
need  not  trouble  ourselves  any  farther  ;  or  at  least,  they 


144  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

know  not  wherein  the  difference  lies  ;  or  how  to  set 
upon  this  searching  of  their  hearts.  They  have  as 
gross  conceits  of  that  regeneration  which  they  must 
search  for,  as  Nicodemus  had  ;  they  are  like  those  in 
Acts  xix,  2,  that  "  knew  not  whether  there  were  a  Holy 
Ghost  to  be  received  or  not." 

2.  Some  are  so  possessed  with  self-love  and  pride 
that  they  will  not  so  much  as  suspect  any  danger  to 
themselves.  Like  a  proud  tradesman  who  scorns  the 
motion  when  his  friends  desire  him  to  cast  up  his  books, 
because  they  are  afraid  he  will  break.  As  some  fond 
parents  that  have  an  overweening  conceit  of  their  own 
children,  and  therefore  will  not  believe  or  hear  any  evil 
of  them.  Such  a  fond  self-love  doth  hinder  men  from 
suspecting  and  trying  their  states. 

3.  Some  are  so  guilty  that  they  dare  not  try :  they 
are  so  fearful  that  they  should  fmd  their  estates  unsound, 
that  they  dare  not  search  into  them.  And  yet  they  dare 
venture  them  to  a  more  dreadful  trial. 

4.  Some  are  so  in  love  with  their  sin,  and  so  in  dis- 
like with  the  way  of  God,  that  they  dare  not  fall  on  the 
trial  of  their  ways,  lest  they  be  forced  from  the  course 
which  they  love. 

5.  Some  are  so  resolved  already  never  to  change  their 
present  state,  that  they  neglect  examination  as  a  useless 
thing.  Before  they  will  turn  so  precise,  and  seek  a  new 
way,  when  they  have  lived  so  long,  and  gone  so  far, 
they  will  put  their  eternal  state  to  the  venture,  come  of 
it  what  will.  And  when  a  man  is  fully  resolved  to  hold 
to  his  way,  and  not  to  turn  back,  be  it  right  or  wrong, 
to  what  end  should  he  inquire  whether  he  be  right  or 
not? 

6.  Most  men  are  so  taken  up  with  their  worldly  af- 
fairs, and  are  so  busy  in  providing  for  the  flesh,  that 
they  cannot  set  themselves  to  the  trying  of  their  title  to 
heaven.  They  have  another  kind  of  happiness  in  their 
eye,  which  will  not  suffer  them  to  make  sure  of  heaven. 

7.  But  the  most  common  impediment  is,  that  false 
faith  and  hope  commonly  called  presumption  ;  which 
bears  up  the  hearts  of  most  of  the  world,  and  so  keeps 
them  from  suspecting  their  danger. 

Thus  you  see  what  abundance  of  difficulties  must  be 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  145 

overcome,  before  a  man  closely  sets  upon  the  examining 
of  his  heart. 

And  if  a  man  break  through  all  these  impediments, 
and  set  upon  the  duty,  yet,  of  those  few  who  inquire 
after  means  of  assurance,  divers  are  deceived  and  mis- 
carry, especially  through  these  following  causes  : 

1.  There  is  such  confusion  and  darkness  in  the  soul 
of  man,  especially  of  an  unregenerate  man,  that  he  can 
scarcely  tell  what  he  doth,  or  what  is  in  him.  As  one 
can  hardly  find  any  thing  in  a  house  where  nothing 
keeps  its  place,  but  all  is  cast  on  a  heap  together  ;  so  it 
is  in  the  heart  where  all  things  are  in  disorder,  especially 
when  darkness  is  added  to  this  disorder :  so  that  the 
heart  is  like  an  obscure  dungeon,  where  there  is  but  a 
little  crevice  of  light,  and  a  man  must  rather  grope  than 
see.  No  wonder  if  men  mistake  in  searching  such  a 
heart,  and  so  miscarry  in  judging  their  estates. 

3.  Besides,  many  are  resolved  what  to  judge  before 
they  try.  They  use  the  duty  but  to  strengthen  their 
present  conceits  of  themselves,  and  not  to  find  out  the 
truth  of  their  condition.  Like  a  bribed  judge,  who  ex- 
amines each  party  as  if  he  wouJd  judge  uprightly,  when 
he  is  resolved  which  way  the  cause  shall  go  before 
hand.     Just  so  do  men  examine  their  hearts. 

3.  Also  men  try  themselves  by  false  marks  and  rules  ; 
not  knowing  wherein  the  truth  of  Christianity  doth  con- 
sist :  some  looking  beyond,  and  some  short  of  the  Scrip- 
ture standard. 

Lastly.  Men  frequently  miscarrj'-  in  this  work,  by 
setting  on  it  in  their  OAvn  strength.  As  some  expect 
the  Spirit  should  do  it  v/ithout  them  ;  so  others  attempt 
it  themselves,  without  seeking  or  expecting  the  help  of 
the  Spirit.  Both  these  will  certainly  miscarry  in  their 
assurance. 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

FARTHER   CAUSES    OF    DOUBTING    AMONG   CHRISTIANS. 

Because   the  comfort  of  a  Christian's  life  doth  so 
much  consist  in  his  assurance  of  God's  special  love,  and 
because  the  right  way  of  obtaining  it  is  so  much  contro- 
7 


146  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

verted,  I  will  here  proceed  a  little  farther  in  opening  to 
you  some  other  hinderances  which  keep  us  Christians 
from  comfortable  certainty. 

1.  One  great  cause  of  doubting  and  uncertainty  is,  the 
weakness  of  our  grace.  A  little  grace  is  next  to  none. 
Small  things  are  hardly  discerned.  Most  content  them- 
selves with  a  small  measure  of  grace,  and  do  not  follow 
on  to  spiritual  strength  and  manhood.  They  believe  so 
weakly,  and  love  God  so  little,  that  they  can  scarce  find 
whether  they  believe  and  love  at  all.  Like  a  man  in  a 
swoon,  whose  pulse  and  breathing  is  so  weak  that  they 
can  hardly  be  perceived  whether  they  move  at  all,  and 
consequently  whether  the  man  be  alive  or  dead. 

The  chief  remedy  for  such  would  be,  to  follow  on 
their  duty  till  their  graces  be  increased :  ply  your  work : 
wait  upon  God  in  the  use  of  his  prescribed  means,  and 
he  will  undoubtedly  bless  you  with  increase.  O  that 
Christians  would  bestow  most  of  that  time  in  getting 
more  grace,  which  they  bestow  in  anxious  doub tings, 
whether  they  have  any  or  none ;  and  that  they  would 
lay  out  those  serious  afl'ections  in  praying  and  seeking 
to  Christ  for  more  grace,  which  they  bestow  in  fruitless 
complaints  !  I  beseech  thee,  take  this  advice  as  from 
God  !  and  then,  when  thou  believest  strongly,  and  lovest 
fervently,  thou  canst  not  doubt  whether  thou  believe  and 
love  or  not :  no  more  than  a  man  that  is  burning  hot  can 
doubt  whether  he  be  warm  :  or  a  man  that  is  strong  and 
lusty  can  doubt  whether  he  be  alive. 

2.  Many  a  soul  lieth  long  under  doubting,  through 
the  imperfection  of  their  very  reason,  and  exceeding 
weakness  of  their  natural  parts.  Grace  doth  usually 
rather  employ  our  faculties  on  better  objects,  than  add 
to  the  degree  of  their  natural  strength.  Many  honest 
hearts  have  such  weak  heads,  that  they  knovv^  not  how 
to  perform  the  work  of  self- trial :  they  are  not  able  to 
argue  the  case  ;  they  will  acknowledge  the  premises, 
and  yet  deny  the  apparent  conclusion.  Or  if  they  be 
brought  to  acknowledge  the  conclusion,  yet  they  do  but 
stagger  in  their  concession,  and  hold  it  so  Aveakly  that 
every  assault  may  take  it  from  them.  If  God  do  not  some 
other  way  supply  to  these  men  the  defect  of  their  reason, 
I  see  not  how  they  should  have  clear  and  settled  peace. 


EVERLASTING    REST.  147 

3.  Another  common  cause  of  doubting  and  discomfort 
is,  the  secret  maintaining  some  known  sin. 

When  a  man  liveth  in  some  unwarrantable  practice, 
and  God  hath  oft  touched  him  for  it,  and  yet  he  con- 
tinueth  it,  it  is  no  wonder  if  this  person  want  both  as- 
surance and  comfort.  One  would  think  that  a  soul  that 
is  so  tender  as  to  tremble,  should  be  as  tender  of  sin- 
ning: and  yet  sad  experience  telleth  us  that  it  is  fre- 
quently otherwise.  I  have  known  too  many  such,  that 
would  complain  and  yet  sin,  and  accuse  themselves,  and 
yet  sin  still,  yea,  and  despair,  and  yet  proceed  in  sin- 
ning :  and  all  arguments  and  means  could  not  keep  them 
from  the  wilful  committing  of  that  sin  again  and  again, 
which  yet  they  themselves  did  think  would  prove  their 
destruction.  Yea,  some  will  be  carried  away  with  those 
sins  that  seem  most  contrary  to  their  dejected  temper. 
I  have  known  them  that  would  fill  men's  ears  with  the 
constant  lamentations  of  their  miserable  state,  and  ac- 
cusations against  themselves,  as  if  they  had  been  the 
most  humble  people  in  the  world ;  and  yet  be  as  pas- 
sionate in  the  maintaining  their  innocency  when  another 
accuseth  them,  and  as  intolerably  peevish,  and  tender  of 
their  reputation  in  any  thing  they  are  blamed  for,  as  if 
they  were  the  proudest  persons  on  earth. 

This  cherishing  sin  doth  hinder  assurance  these  four 
ways  :  — 

1.  It  doth  abate  the  degree  of  our  graces,  and  so  makes 
them  undiscernible. 

2.  It  obscureth  that  which  it  destroyeth  not ;  for  it 
beareth  such  sway,  that  grace  is  not  seen  to  stir,  nor 
scarce  heard  speak,  for  the  noise  of  this  corruption. 

3.  It  putteth  out  or  darken eth  the  eye  of  the  soul,  and 
it  benumbeth  and  stupifieth  it. 

4.  But  especially  it  provoketh  God  to  withdraw  him- 
self, his  comforts,  and  the  assistance  of  the  Spirit,  with- 
out which  we  may  search  long  enough  before  we  have 
assurance.  God  hath  made  a  separation  betwixt  sin  and 
peace.  As  long  as  thou  dost  cherish  thy  pride,  thy  love 
of  the  world,  the  desires  of  the  flesh,  or  any  unchristian 
practice,  thou  expectest  assurance  and  comfort  in  vain, 
God  will  not  encourage  thee  by  his  precious  gifts  in  a 
course  of  sinning.    This  worm  will  be  gnawing  upon 


148  THE   SAINTS'   EVERLASTING  REST. 

thy  conscience  :  it  will  be  a  devouring  canker  to  thy 
consolations.  Thou  mayest  steal  a  spark  of  false  com- 
fort from  thy  worldly  prosperity  or  delight :  or  thou 
mayest  have  it  from  false  opinions,  or  from  the  delu- 
sions of  Satan  ;  but  from  God  thou  wilt  have  no  com- 
fort. However  an  Antinomian  may  tell  thee  that  thy 
comforts  have  no  dependence  upon  thy  obedience,  nor 
thy  discomforts  upon  thy  disobedience  ;  and  therefore 
may  speak  peace  to  thee  in  the  course  of  thy  sinning  ; 
yet  thou  shalt  find  by  experience  that  God  will  not.  If 
any  man  set  up  his  idols  in  his  heart,  and  put  the  stum- 
bling block  of  his  iniquity  before  his  face,  and  cometh 
to  a  minister,  or  to  God,  to  inquire  for  assurance  and 
comfort,  God  will  answer  that  man  by  himself,  and  in- 
stead of  comforting  him.,  he  will  set  his  face  against 
him,  "he  will  answer  him  according  to  the  multitude 
of  his  idols." 

5.  Another  common  cause  of  want  of  assurance  and 
comfort  is,  when  men  grow  lazy  in  the  spiritual  part  of 
duty.  As  Dr.  Sibbs  saith  truly,  "  It  is  the  lazy  Chris- 
tian commonly  that  lacketh  assurance."  The  way  of 
painful  duty  is  the  way  of  fullest  comfort.  Christ  car- 
rieth  all  our  comforts  in  his  hand  :  if  we  are  out  of  that 
way  Avhere  Christ  is  to  be  met,  we  are  out  of  the  way 
where  comfort  is  to  be  had. 

These  two  ways  doth  this  laziness  debar  us  of  our 
comforts  : — 

1.  By  stopping  the  fountain,  and  causing  Christ  to 
withhold  this  blessing  from  us.  Parents  use  not  to 
smile  upon  children  in  their  neglects  and  disobedience. 
So  far  as  the  Spirit  is  grieved,  he  will  suspend  his  con- 
solation. Assurance  and  peace  are  Christ's  great  en- 
couragements to  faithfulness  and  obedience  ;  and  there- 
fore (though  our  obedience  do  not  merit  them,  yet)  they 
usually  rise  and  fall  with  our  diligence  in  duty.  They 
that  have  entertained  the  Antinomian  dotage  to  cover 
their  idleness  and  viciousness,  may  talk  their  nonsense 
against  this  at  pleasure,  but  the  laborious  Christian 
knows  by  experience.  As  prayer  must  have  faith  and 
fervency  to  pi'ocure  its  success,  beside  the  bloodshed 
and  intercession  of  Christ,  so  must  all  other  parts  of  our 
obedience.     He  that  will  say  to  us  in  that  triumphing 


THE  saints'   everlasting    REST.  149 

day,  "  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant,  enter  thou 
into  the  joy  of  thy  Lord  ;"  will  also  comfort  his  serv- 
ants in  their  most  affectionate  and  spiritual  duties,  and 
say,  "  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant,  take  this 
foretaste  of  thy  everlasting  joy."  If  thou  grow  seldom, 
and  customary,  and  cold  in  duty,  especially  in  thy  secret 
prayers  to  God,  and  yet  findest  no  abatement  in  thy 
joys,  I  cannot  but  fear  that  thy  joys  are  either  carnal  or 
diabolical. 

2.  The  action  of  the  soul  upon  such  excellent  objects 
doth  naturally  bring  consolation  with  it.  The  very  act 
of  loving  God  in  Christ,  doth  bring  inexpressible  sweet- 
ness into  the  soul.  The  soul  that  is  best  furnished  with 
grace  when  it  is  not  in  action,  is  like  a  lute  well  stringed 
and  tuned,  which,  while  it  lieth  still,  doth  make  no  more 
music  than  a  common  piece  of  wood ;  but  when  it  is 
taken  up  and  handled  by  a  skilful  lutist,  the  melody 
is  delightful.  Some  degree  of  comfort  follows  every 
good  action,  as  heat  accompanies  fire,  and  as  beams  and 
influence  issue  from  the  sun  :  which  is  so  true,  that  the 
very  heathens,  upon  the  discharge  of  a  good  conscience, 
have  found  comfort  and  peace  answeiable.  This  is 
praemium  ante  praemium :  a  reward  before  the  reward. 

As  a  man  therefore  that  is  cold  should  not  stand  still 
and  say,  I  am  so  cold  that  I  have  no  mind  to  labour,  but 
labour  till  his  coldness  be  gone,  and  heat  excited  ;  so  he 
that  wants  the  comfort  of  assurance,  must  not  stand 
still  and  say,  I  am  so  doubtful  and  uncomfortable  that  I 
have  no  mind  for  duty ;  but  ply  his  duty,  and  exercise 
his  graces,  till  he  finds  his  doubts  and  discomforts 
vanish. 

And  thus  I  have  shown  you  the  chief  causes  why  so 
many  Christians  enjoy  so  little  assurance  and  con- 
solation. 


150 


CHAPTER  IX. 

CONTAINING   DIRECTIONS    FOR   EXAMINATION,  AND    SOME    MARKS 
OF   TRIAL. 

I  WILL  not  stand  here  to  lay  down  the  directions 
necessary  for  preparation  to  this  duty,  because  you  may 
gather  them  from  what  is  said  concerning  the  hinder- 
ances  :  for  the  contraries  of  those  hinderances  will  be 
the  most  necessary  helps.  Only  before  you  set  upon  it, 
I  advise  you  to  the  observation  of  these  rules : — 

1.  Come  -not  with  too  peremptory  conclusions  of 
yourselves  beforehand.  Do  not  judge  too  confidently 
before  you  try. 

2.  Be  sure  to  be  so  well  acquainted  with  the  Scripture 
as  to  know  what  is  the  tenor  of  the  covenant  of  grace, 
and  what  are  the  conditions  of  justification  and  glorifi- 
cation, and  consequently  what  are  sound  marks  to  try 
thyself  by. 

3.  Be  a  constant  observer  of  the  temper  and  motions 
of  thy  heart :  most  of  the  difficulty  of  the  work  doth  lie 
in  true  and  clear  discerning  of  it.  Be  watchful  in  ob- 
serving the  actings  both  of  grace  and  corruption,  and 
the  circumstances  of  their  actings :  as,  how  frequent  ? 
how  violent?  how  strong  or  weak  were  the  outward 
incitements  ?  how  great  or  small  the  impediments  ? 
what  delight,  or  loathing,  or  fear,  or  reluctancy,  did  go 
with  those  acts  ? 

1.  Empty  thy  mind  of  all  thy  other  cares  and  thoughts, 
that  they  do  not  distract  or  divide  thy  mind.  This  work 
will  be  enough  at  once  of  itself,  without  joining  others 
with  it. 

2.  Then  fall  down  before  God,  and  in  hearty  prayer 
desire  the  assistance  of  his  Spirit,  to  discover  to  thee 
the  plain  truth  of  thy  condition,  and  to  enlighten  thee 
in  the  whole  progress  of  the  work. 

I  will  not  digress  to  warn  you  here  of  the  false  rules 
and  marks  of  trial  of  which  you  must  beware.  But 
I  will  briefly  adjoin  some  marks  to  try  your  title  to 
this  rest. 

1.  Every  soul  that  hath  a  title  to  this  rest,  doth  place 


151 

his  happiness  in  it,  and  make  it  the  ultimate  end  of  his 
soul.  This  is  the  first  mark  ;  which  is  so  plain  a  truth 
that  I  need  not  stand  to  prove  it.  For  this  rest  con- 
sisteth  in  the  full  and  glorious  enjoyment  of  God  ;  and 
he  that  maketh  not  God  his  ultimate  end,  is  in  heart  a 
pagan  and  vile  idolater. 

Let  me  ask  thee  then,  Dost  thou  truly  account  it  thy 
chief  happiness  to  enjoy  the  Lord  in  glory,  or  dost  thou 
,not?  Canst  thou  say  with  David,  "The  Lord  is  my 
portion  ?  And  whom  have  I  in  heaven  but  thee  ?  And 
whom  in  earth  that  I  desire  in  comparison  of  thee?" 
If  thou  be  an  heir  of  rest,  it  is  thus  with  thee.  Though 
the  flesh  will  be  pleading  for  its  own  delights,  and  the 
world  will  be  creeping  into  thine  affection,  yet  in  thy 
ordinary,  settled,  prevailing  judgment  and  afiections, 
thou  preferrest  God  before  all  things  in  the  world. 

1.  Thou  makest  him  the  end  of  thy  desires  and  en- 
deavours :  the  very  reason  why  thou  hearest  and  pray- 
est,  why  thou  desirest  to  live  and  breathe  on  earth,  is 
this,  that  thou  mayest  seek  the  Lord.  Thou  seekest  first 
the  kingdom  of  God  and  its  righteousness :  though  thou 
dost  not  seek  it  so  zealously  as  thou  shouldst ;  yet  hath 
it  the  chief  of  thy  desires  and  endeavours  :  and  nothing 
else  is  desired  or  preferred  before  it. 

2.  Thou  wilt  think  no  labour  or  suflering  too  great 
to  obtain  it.  And  though  the  flesh  may  sometimes 
shrink,  yet  art  thou  resolved  and  content  to  go  through 
all. 

3.  If  thou  be  an  heir  of  rest,  thy  valuation  of  it  will 
be  so  high,  and  thy  affection  to  it  so  great,  that  thou 
wouldst  not  exchange  thy  title  to  it,  and  hopes  of  it,  for 
any  worldly  good  whatsoever.  If  God  would  set  before 
thee  an  eternity  of  earthly  pleasure  on  one  hand,  and 
the  rest  of  the  saints  on  the  other,  and  bid  thee  take  thy 
choice :  thou  wouldst  refuse  the  world,  and  choose  this 
rest. 

But  if  thou  be  yet  in  the  flesh,  then  it  is  clean  con- 
trary with  thee.  Then  dost  thou  in  thy  heart  prefer  thy 
worldly  happiness  before  God  :  and  though  thy  tongue 
may  say  that  God  is  the  chief  good,  yet  thy  heart  doth 
not  so  esteem  him.     For, 

1.  The  world  is  the  chief  end  of  thy  desires  and 


152  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest.    ^ 

endeavours  ;  thy  very  heart  is  set  upon  it ;  thy  greatest 
care  and  labour  is  to  maintain  thy  estate,  or  credit,  or 
fleshly  delights.  But  the  life  to  come  hath  little  of  thy 
care  or  labour.  Thou  didst  never  perceive  so  much 
excellence  in  the  unseen  glory  as  to  draw  thy  heart  so 
after  it ;  but  that  little  pains  which  thou  bestowest  that 
way,  it  is  but  in  the  second  place.  God  hath  but  the 
world's  leavings,  and  that  time  and  labour  which  thou 
canst  spare  from  the  world,  or  those  few  cold  and  care- 
less thoughts  which  follow  thy  constant,  earnest,  and 
delightful  thoughts  of  earthly  things  ;  neither  wouldst 
thou  do  any  thing  at  all  for  heaven,  if  thou  knewest 
how  to  keep  the  world :  but  lest  thou  shouldst  be  turned 
into  hell,  when  thou  canst  keep  the  world  no  longer, 
therefore  thou  wilt  do  something. 

2.  Therefore  it  is  that  thou  thinkest  the  way  of  God 
too  strict,  and  wilt  not  be  persuaded  to  the  constant 
labour  of  walking  according  to  the  Gospel  rule  :  and 
when  it  comes  to  trial  that  thou  must  forsake  Christ  or 
thy  worldly  happiness,  and  the  wind  which  was  in  thy 
back  doth  turn  in  thy  face,  then  thou  wilt  venture 
heaven  rather  than  earth,  and  (as  desperate  rebels  use 
to  say)  thou  wilt  rather  trust  God's  mercy  for  thy  soul, 
than  man's  for  thy  body  ;  and  so  deny  thy  obedience 
to  God. 

3.  And  certainly  if  God  would  but  give  thee  leave  to 
live  in  health  and  wealth  for  ever  on  earth,  thou  wouldst 
think  it  a  better  state  than  rest :  let  them  seek  for 
heaven  that  would,  thou  wouldst  think  this  thy  chiefest 
happiness.  This  is  thy  case  if  thou  be  yet  an  unre- 
generate  person,  and  hast  no  title  to  the  saints'  rest. 

The  second  mark  which  I  shall  give  thee,  to  try 
whether  thou  be  an  heir  of  rest,  is  this  : — 

As  thou  takest  God  for  thy  chief  good,  so  thou  dost 
heartily  accept  of  Christ  for  thy  only  Saviour  and  Lord 
to  bring  thee  to  this  rest.  The  former  mark  was  the 
sum  of  the  first  and  great  command  of  the  law  of  na- 
ture, ["Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God."l  This 
second  mark  is  the  sum  of  the  command  or  condition 
of  the  Gospel,  ["  Believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  thou 
shalt  be  saved."!  And  the  performance  of  these  two 
is  the  whole  sum  or  essence  of  godliness  and  Chris- 


THE  saints'  everlasting  REST.  153 

tianity.      Observe  therefore  the  parts  of  this  mark, 
which  is  but  a  definition  of  faith. 

1.  Dost  thou  find  that  thou  art  naturally  a  lost  con- 
demned man,  for  thy  breach  of  the  first  covenant? 
And  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  mediator  who  hath 
made  a  sufficient  satisfaction  to  the  law  ?  And  hearing 
in  the  Gospel  that  he  is  offered  without  exception  unto 
all,  dost  thou  heartily  consent  that  he  alone  shall  be  thy 
Saviour  ?  and  no  farther  trust  to  thy  duties  and  works 
than  as  conditions  required  by  him,  and  means  appointed 
in  subordination  to  him  ?  Not  looking  at  them  as  in  the 
least  measure  able  to  satisfy  the  course  of  the  law,  or 
as  a  legal  righteousness,  nor  any  part  of  it?  But  art 
content  to  trust  thy  salvation  on  the  redemption  made 
by  Christ  1 

2.  Art  thou  also  content  to  take  him  for  thy  only 
Lord  and  King,  to  govern  and  guide  thee  by  his  laws 
and  Spirit?  and  to  obey  him  even  when  he  commandeth 
the  hardest  duties,  and  those  which  most  cross  the  de- 
sires of  the  flesh  ?  Is  it  thy  sorrow  when  thou  breakest 
thy  resolution  herein  ?  And  thy  joy  when  thou  keepest 
closest  in  obedience  to  him  ?  Wouldst  thou  not  change 
thy  Lord  and  Master  for  all  the  world  ?  Thus  it  is  with 
every  true  Christian.  But  if  thou  be  an  unbeliever,  it 
is  far  otherwise.  Thou  mayest  call  Christ  thy  Lord  and 
thy  Saviour:  but  thou  never  foundest  thyself  so  lost 
without  him  as  to  drive  thee  to  trust  him,  and  lay  thy 
salvation  on  him  alone  :  or  at  least  thou  didst  never 
heartily  consent  that  he  should  govern  thee  as  thy  Lord  ; 
nor  resign  up  thy  soul  and  life  to  be  ruled  by  him  ;  nor 
take  his  word  for  the  law  of  thy  thoughts  and  actions. 
It  is  like  thou  art  content  to  be  saved  from  hell  by  Christ 
when  thou  diest ;  but  in  the  meantime  he  shall  command 
thee  no  farther  than  will  stand  with  thy  credit,  or  plea- 
sure, or  worldly  estate  and  ends.  And  if  he  would  give 
thee  leave,  thou  hadst  far  rather  live  after  the  world  and 
flesh,  than  after  the  word  and  Spirit.  And  though  thou 
mayest  now  and  then  have  a  motion  or  purpose  to  the 
contrary  ;  yet  this  that  I  have  mentioned  is  the  ordinary 
desire  and  choice  of  thine  heart:  and  so  thou  art  no 
true  believer  in  Christ :  for  though  thou  confess  him  in 
words,  yet  in  works  thou  dost  deny  him,  '*  being  diso- 

7* 


154  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

bedient,  and  to  every  good  work  a  disapprover  and  a 
reprobate,"  Tit.  i,  16.  This  is  the  case  of  those  that 
shall  be  shut  out  of  the  saints'  rest. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE    REASON    OF    THE    SAINTS'    AFFLICTIONS    HERE. 

A  FARTHER  use  which  we  must  make  of  the  present 
doctrine  is,  to  inform  us  why  the  people  of  God  suffer 
so  much  in  this  life.  What  wonder  when  you  see  their 
rest  doth  yet  remain  ?  They  are  not  yet  come  to  their 
resting  place.  We  would  all  fain  have  continual  pros- 
perity, because  it  is  pleasing  to  the  flesh ;  but  wp  con- 
sider not  the  unreasonableness  of  such  desires.  We 
are  like  children,  who,  if  they  see  any  thing  which  their 
appetite  desireth,  cry  for  it ;  and  if  you  tell  them  that  it 
is  unwholesome,  or  hurtful  for  them,  they  are  never  the 
more  quieted  ;  or  if  you  go  about  to  heal  any  sore  that 
they  have,  they  will  not  endure  you  to  hurt  them,  though 
you  tell  them  that  they  cannot  otherwise  be  healed ; 
their  sense  is  too  strong  for  their  reason,  and  therefore 
reason  doth  little  persuade  them.  Even  so  it  is  with  us 
when  God  is  afflicting  us  :  he  giveth  us  reasons  why  we 
must  bear  it,  so  that  our  reason  is  oft  convinced  and 
satisfied,  and  yet  we  cry  and  complain  still :  it  is  not 
reason,  but  ease  that  we  must  have  :  spiritual  remedies 
may  cure  the  spirit's  maladies  ;  but  that  will  not  content 
the  flesh. 

But  methinks  Christians  should  have  another  palate 
than  that  of  the  flesh,  to  try  and  relish  providences  by  : 
God  hath  given  them  the  Spirit  to  subdue  the  flesh. 
And  therefore  I  shall  here  give  them  some  reasons  of 
God's  dealing  in  their  present  suflerings,  whereby  the 
equity  and  mercy  therein  may  appear  :  and  they  shall 
be  only  such  as  are  drawn  from  the  reference  that  these 
afflictions  have  to  our  rest ;  which  being  a  Christian's 
happiness  and  ultimate  end,  will  direct  him  in  judging 
of  all  estates  and  means. 

1.  Consider,  then,  that  labour  and  trouble  are  the  com- 
mon way  to  rest,  both  in  the  course  of  nature  and  of 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST  155 

grace.  Can  there  possibly  be  rest  without  motion  and 
weariness  ?  Do  you  not  travel  and  toil  first,  and  then 
rest  afterward  ?  The  day  for  labour  goes  first,  and  then 
the  night  for  rest  doth  follow.  Why  should  we  desire 
the  course  of  grace  to  be  perverted,  any  more  than  we 
would  do  the  course  of  nature  ?  God  did  once  dry  up 
the  sea  to  make  a  passage  for  his  people  ;  and  once 
made  the  sun  in  the  firmament  to  stand  still ;  but  must 
he  do  so  always,  or  as  oft  as  Ave  would  have  him  ?  It 
is  his  established  decree,  "  That  through  many  tribula- 
tions we  must  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  Acts 
xiv,  22.  "  And  that  if  we  suffer  with  him,  we  shall  also 
be  glorified  with  him,"  2  Tim.  ii,  12.  And  what  are 
we,  that  God's  statutes  should  be  reversed  for  our  plea- 
sure ?  As  Bildad  said  to  Job,  chapter  xviii,  4,  "  Shall 
the  earth  be  forsaken  for  thee  ?  or  the  rock  be  removed 
out  of  his  place?"  so  must  God  pervert  his  established 
order  for  thee  ? 

2.  Consider,  also,  that  afflictions  are  exceeding  useful 
to  us,  to  keep  us  from  mistaking  our  resting  place,  and 
so  taking  up  short  of  it.  A  Christian's  motion  heaven- 
ward, is  voluntary,  and  not  constrained.  Those  means 
therefore  are  most  profitable  to  him  which  help  his  un- 
derstanding and  will  in  this  prosecution.  The  most 
dangerous  mistake  that  our  souls  are  capable  of  is,  to 
take  the  creature  for  God,  and  earth  for  heaven.  And 
yet,  alas,  how  common  is  this  !  Though  we  are  ashamed 
to  speak  so  much  with  our  tongues,  yet  how  oft  do  our 
hearts  say,  "  It  is  best  being  here  !"  And  how  con- 
tented are  we  with  an  earthly  portion  !  So  that  I  fear 
God  would  displease  most  of  us  more  to  afflict  us  here, 
and.  promise  us  rest  hereafter,  than  to  give  us  our 
hearts'  desire  on  earth,  though  he  had  n^ever  made  us  a 
promise  of  heaven.  As  if  the  creature  without  God 
were  better  than  God  without  the  creature.  Alas,  how 
apt  are  we,  like  foolish  children,  when  we  are  busy  at 
our  sports  and  worldly  employments,  to  forget  both  our 
Father  and  our  home  !  Therefore  it  is  a  hard  thing  for 
a  rich  man  to  enter  into  heaven,  because  it  is  hard  for 
him  to  value  it  more  than  earth,  and  not  think  he  is  well 
already.  Come  to  a  man  that  hath  the  Morld  at  will, 
and  tell  him,  "  This  is  not  your  happiness,  you  have 


156  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

higher  things  to  look  after ;"  and  how  little  will  he  re- 
gard  you  ?  But  when  affliction  comes,  it  speaks  con- 
vincingly, and  will  be  heard  when  preachers  cannot. 

Sometimes  a  sincere  man  begins  to  be  lifted  up  with 
applause  ;  and  sometimes  being  in  health  and  pros- 
perity, he  hath  lost  his  relish  of  Christ,  and  the  joys 
above  ;  till  God  break  in  upon  his  riches,  and  scatter 
them  abroad,  or  upon  his  children,  or  upon  his  con- 
science, or  upon  the  health  of  his  body,  and  break  down 
his  mount  which  he  thought  so  strong  :  and  then,  when 
he  lieth  in  Manasseh's  fetters,  or  is  fastened  to  his  bed 
with  pining  sickness,  O  what  an  opportunity  hath  the 
Spirit  to  plead  with  his  soul !  When  the  world  is  worth 
nothing,  then  heaven  is  worth  something. 

How  oft  have  I  been  ready  to  think  myself  at  home, 
till  sickness  hath  roundly  told  me,  I  was  mistaken !  And 
how  apt  yet  to  fall  into  the  same  disease,  which  prevail- 
eth  till  it  be  removed  by  the  same  cure  !  If  our  dear 
Lord  did  not  put  these  thorns  into  our  bed,  we  should 
sleep  out  our  lives,  and  lose  our  glory. 

3.  Consider,  afflictions  are  God's  most  effectual  means 
to  keep  us  from  straggling  out  of  the  way  to  our  rest. 
If  he  had  not  set  a  hedge  of  thorns  on  the  right  hand 
and  on  the  left,  we  should  hardly  keep  the  way  to  hea 
ven.  If  there  be  but  one  gap  open  without  these  thorns, 
how  ready  are  we  to  turn  out  at  it !  But  when  we  can- 
not go  astray  but  these  thorns  will  prick  us,  perhaps  we 
will  be  content  to  hold  the  way.  When  we  grow  wan- 
ton, or  worldly,  or  proud,  what  a  not  \ble  means  is  sick- 
ness, or  other  affliction,  to  reduce  us !  It  is  every 
Christian,  as  well  as  Luther,  that  may  call  affliction  one 
of  his  best  schoolmasters.  Many  a  one,  as  well  as 
David,  may  say  by  experience,  "  Before  I  was  afflicted 
I  went  astray,  but  now  have  I  kept  thy  precepts." 
Many  a  thousand  poor  recovered  sinners  may  cry,  O 
healthful  sickness !  O  comfortable  sorrows !  O  gainful 
losses  !  O  enriching  poverty  !  O  blessed  day  that  ever  I 
was  afflicted !  It  is  not  only  "  the  pleasant  streams, 
and  the  green  pastures,  but  his  rod  and  staff  also  that 
are  our  comfort."  Though  I  know  it  is  the  word  and 
Spirit  that  do  the  work  ;  yet  certainly  the  time  of  sufier- 
ing  is  so  opportune  a  season,  that  the  same  word  will 


157 

take  them  then,  which  before  was  scarce  observed:  it 
doth  so  unbolt  the  door  of  the  heart,  that  a  minister  or 
a  friend  may  then  be  heard,  and  the  word  may  have 
easier  entrance  to  the  afiections. 

4.  Consider,  afflictions  arc  God's  most  effectual  means 
to  make  us  mend  our  pace  in  the  way  to  our  rest.  They 
are  his  rod,  and  his  spur  :  what  sluggard  will  not  awake 
and  stir  when  he  feeleth  them  ?  It  were  well  if  mere 
love  would  prevail  with  us,  and  that  we  were  rather 
drawn  to  heaven  than  driven  :  but  seeing  our  hearts  are 
so  bad,  that  mercy  will  not  do  it,  it  is  better  we  be  put 
on  with  the  sharpest  scourge,  than  loiter  out  our  time 
till  the  doors  are  shut. 

O  what  a  difference  is  there  betwixt  our  prayers  in 
health  and  in  sickness  !  betwixt  our  prosperity  and  ad- 
versity repentings  !  He  that  before  had  not  a  tear  to 
shed,  or  a  groan  to  utter,  now  can  sob,  and  sigh,  and 
weep  :  he  that  was  wont  to  lie  like  a  block  in  prayer, 
and  scarce  minded  what  he  said  to  God  :  now  affliction 
presseth  him  down,  how  earnestly  can  he  beg  !  How 
doth  he  mingle  his  prayers  and  his  tears  !  and  cry  out, 
what  a  person  he  will  be,  if  God  will  but  hear  him  and 
deliver  him  !  Alas  !  if  we  did  'not  sometimes  feel  the 
spur,  what  a  slow  pace  would  most  of  us  hold  toward 
heaven ! 

Seeing  then  what  our  vile  natures  require,  why  should 
we  be  unwilling  God  should  do  us  good  by  sharp  means  ? 
Sure  that  is  the  best  dealing  for  us  which  surest  and 
soonest  doth  farther  us  for  heaven.  I  leave  thee.  Chris- 
tian, to  judge  by  thy  own  experience,  whether  thou  dost 
not  go  more  watchfully,  and  lively,  and  speedily  in  thy 
way  to  rest,  in  thy  sufferings,  than  thou  dost  in  thy 
more  pleasing  and  prosperous  state. 

Lastly.  Consider,  God  doth  seldom  give  his  people 
so  sweet  a  foretaste  of  their  future  rest  as  in  their  deep 
afflictions.  He  keepeth  his  most  precious  cordials  for 
the  time  of  our  greatest  faintings  and  dangers.  God  is 
not  so  lavish  of  his  choice  favours  as  to  bestow  them 
unseasonably :  he  gives  them  at  so  fit  a  time,  when  he 
knoweth  they  are  needful,  and  will  be  valued  ;  and  when 
he  is  sure  to  be  thanked  for  them,  and  his  people  re- 
joiced  by  them.     Especially,  when  our  sufferings  are 


158  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

more  directly  for  his  cause,  then  doth  he  seldom  fail  of 
sweetening  the  bitter  cup.  Therefore  have  the  martyrs 
been  possessors  of  the  highest  joys,  and  therefore  were 
they  so  ambitious  of  martyrdom.  I  do  not  think  that 
Paul  and  Silas  did  ever  sing  more  joyfully  than  when 
they  were  sore  with  scourgings,  and  fast  in  the  inner 
prison,  with  their  feet  in  the  stocks.  When  did  Christ 
preach  such  comforts  to  his  disciples,  and  assure  them 
of  his  providing  them  mansions  with  himself,  but  when 
he  was  ready  to  leave  them,  and  their  hearts  were  sor- 
rowful because  of  his  departure  ?  When  did  he  appear 
among  them,  and  say,  "  Peace  be  unto  you,"  but  when 
they  were  shut  up  together  for  fear  of  the  persecuting 
Jews  ?  When  did  Stephen  see  heaven  opened,  but 
when  he  was  giving  up  his  life  for  the  testimony  of  Je- 
sus ?  And  though  we  be  never  put  to  the  suffering  of 
martyrdom,  yet  God  knoweth  that  in  our  natural  suffer- 
ings we  need  support. 

Seeing  then  that  the  time  of  affliction  is  the  time  of 
our  most  pure,  spiritual,  and  heavenly  joy,  for  the  most 
part  ;  why  should  a  Christian  think  it  so  bad  a  time  ? 
Is  not  that  our  best  estate  wherein  we  have  most  of 
God  ?  Why  else  do  we  desire  to  come  to  heaven  ?  If 
we  look  for  a  heaven  of  fleshly  delights,  we  shall  find 
ourselves  mistaken.  Conclude  then  that  affliction  is  not 
so  bad  a  state  in  our  way  to  rest  as  the  flesh  would  make 
it.  Are  we  wiser  than  God  ?  Doth  not  he  know  what 
is  good  for  us  better  than  we  ?  Or  is  he  not  as  careful 
of  our  good  as  we  are  of  our  own  ?  Ah,  wo  to  us  if  he 
were  not  much  more !  and  if  he  did  not  love  us  better 
than  we  love  either  him  or  ourselves  ! 

But  let  us  hear  a  little  what  it  is  that  we  can  object. 

1.  O,  saith  one,  I  could  bear  any  other  affliction  save 
this  :  if  God  had  touched  me  in  any  thing  else,  I  could 
have  undergone  it  patiently  ;  but  it  is  my  dearest  friend, 
or  child,  or  wife,  or  my  health  itself. 

I  answer,  it  seemeth  God  hath  hit  the  right  vein, 
where  thy  most  inflamed,  distempered  blood  did  lie :  it 
is  his  constant  course  to  pull  down  men's  idols,  and  take 
away  that  which  is  dearer  to  them  than  himself.  There 
it  is  that  his  jealousy  is  kindled  ;  and  there  it  is  that  the 
soul  is  most  endangered.     If  God  should  have  taken 


THE   saints'   everlasting  REST.  159 

from  thee  that  which  thou  canst  let  go  for  him,  and 
not  that  which  thou  canst  not ;  or  have  afflicted  thee 
where  thou  canst  bear  it,  and  not  where  thou  canst 
not;  thy  idol  would  neither  have  been  discovered  nor 
removed ;  this  would  neither  have  been  a  sufficient 
trial  to  thee,  nor  a  cure,  but  have  confirmed  thee  in  thy 
idolatry. 

Objection  2.  O  but,  saith  another,  if  God  would  but 
deliver  me  out  of  it  at  last,  I  could  be  content  to  bear  it : 
but  I  have  an  incurable  sickness,  or  I  am  like  to  live  and 
die  in  poverty,  or  disgrace,  or  distress. 

I  answer,  1.  Is  it  nothing  that  he  hath  promised,  "  it 
shall  work  for  thy  good  ?"  Romans  viii,  28,  and  "  that 
with  the  affliction  he  will  make  a  way  to  escape  ?"  that 
he  will  be  with  thee  in  it,  and  deliver  thee  in  the  fittest 
manner  and  season  ? 

2.  Is  it  not  enough  that  thou  art  sure  to  be  delivered 
at  death,  and  that  with  so  full  a  deliverance  ?  O,  what 
cursed  unbelief  doth  this  discover  in  our  hearts  !  that 
we  would  be  more  thankful  to  be  turned  back  again  into 
the  stormy  sea  of  the  world,  than  to  be  safely  and 
speedily  landed  at  our  rest !  And  would  be  more  glad 
of  a  few  years'  inferior  mercies  at  a  distance,  than  to 
enter  upon  the  eternal  inheritance  with  Christ !  Do  we 
call  God  our  chief  good,  and  heaven  our  happiness  ? 
and  yet  is  it  no  mercy  or  deliverance  to  be  taken  hence, 
and  put  into  that  possession  ? 

Ohjection  3.  O  but,  saith  another,  if  my  affliction  did 
not  disable  me  for  duty,  I  could  bear  it ;  but  it  maketh 
me  useless  and  utterly  unprofitable. 

Answer  1.  For  that  duty  which  tendeth  to  thy  own 
benefit,  it  doth  not  disable  thee  ;  but  is  the  greatest  help 
that  thou  canst  expect.  Thou  usest  to  complain  of 
coldness,  and  dulness,  and  worldliness,  and  security  : 
if  affliction  will  not  help  thee  against  all  these,  by  warn- 
ing, quickening,  rousing  thy  spirit,  I  know  not  what 
will.  Sure  thou  wilt  lepent  thoroughly,  and  pray  fer- 
vently, and  mind  God  and  heaven  more  seriously,  either 
now  or  never. 

2.  As  for  duty  to  others  and  service  to  the  Church,  it 
is  not  thy  duty  when  God  doth  disable  thee.  He  may 
call  thee  out  of  the  vineyard  in  this  respect,  even  before 


160  THE  SAINTS    EVERLASTING  REST. 

he  call  thee  by  death.  If  he  lay  thee  in  the  grave,  and 
put  others  in  thy  place,  is  this  any  wrong  to  thee?  So 
if  he  call  thee  out  before  thy  death,  and  set  others  to  do 
the  work,  should  thou  not  be  as  well  content  ?  Must 
God  do  all  the  work  by  thee  ?  Hath  he  not  many  others 
as  dear  to  him,  and  as  fit  for  the  employment?  But, 
alas,  what  deceitfulness  lieth  in  these  hearts  !  When 
we  have  time,  and  health,  and  opportunity  to  work,  then 
we  loiter,  and  do  our  Master  but  poor  service  :  but 
when  he  layeth  affliction  upon  us,  then  we  complain  that 
he  disableth  us  for  his  work,  and  yet  perhaps  we  are 
still  negligent  in  that  part  of  the  work  which  we  can  do. 
So,  when  we  are  in  health  and  prosperity,  we  forgot  the 
public,  and  are  careless  of  other  men's  miseries  and 
wants,  and  mind  almost  nothing  but  ourselves  ;  but  when 
God  afflicteth  us,  though  he  excite  us  more  to  duty  for 
ourselves,  yet  we  complain  that  he  disableth  us  for  our 
duty  to  others :  as  if  on  a  sudden  we  were  grown  so 
charitable,  that  we  regard  other  men's  souls  more  than 
our  own  !  But  is  not  the  hand  of  flesh,  in  all  this  dissi- 
mulation, pleading  its  own  cause  ?  What  pride  of  heart 
is  this,  to  think  that  other  men  cannot  do  the  work  as 
well  as  we ;  or  that  God  cannot  see  to  his  Church,  and 
provide  for  his  people,  without  us  ! 

Objection  4.  O  but,  saith  another,  it  is  my  friends  that 
are  my  afflicters :  they  disclaim  me,  and  will  scarce  look 
at  me :  they  censure  me,  and  backbite  me,  and  slander 
me,  and  look  upon  me  with  a  disdainful  eye  ;  if  it  were 
others,  I  could  bear  it,  I  look  for  no  better  from  them  : 
but  when  those  that  are  my  delight,  and  that  I  looked 
for  comfort  and  refreshing  from,  when  those  are  thorns 
in  my  sides,  who  can  bear  it  ? 

Answer  1.  Whoever  is  the  instrument,  the  affliction 
is  from  God,  and  the  provoking  cause  from  thyself; 
and  were  it  not  fitter  that  thou  look  more  to  God  and 
thyself? 

2.  Dost  thou  not  know  that  good  men  are  still  sinful 
in  part  ?  and  that  their  hearts  are  naturally  deceitful, 
and  desperately  wicked,  as  well  as  others?  Learn 
therefore  a  better  lesson  from  the  prophet,  Micah  vii,  5, 
6,  7,  "  Trust  not  (too  much)  in  a  friend,  nor  put  confi- 
dence in  a  guide  :  keep  the  doors  of  thy  mouth  from  her 


THE  saints'   everlasting  REST.  161 

that  lieth  in  thy  bosom  :  but  look  rather  for  the  Lord, 
and  wait  for  the  God  of  thy  salvation." 

3.  It  is  likely  thou  hast  given  that  love  and  trust  to 
men  which  was  due  only  to  God,  or  which  thou  hast 
denied  him  :  and  then  no  wonder  if  he  chastise  thee  by 
them.  If  we  would  use  our  friends  as  friends,  God 
would  make  them  our  helps  and  comforts  :  but  when 
once  we  make  them  our  gods,  by  excessive  love  and 
trust,  then  he  suffers  them  to  be  our  accusers  and  tor- 
mentors. It  is  more  safe  to  me  to  have  any  creature  a 
satan  than  a  god ;  to  be  tormented  by  them  than  to  idol- 
ize them.  Till  thou  hast  learned  to  suffer  from  the 
good,  as  well  as  the  ungodly,  never  look  to  live  a  con- 
tented or  comfortable  life,  nor  ever  think  thou  hast  truly 
learned  the  art  of  suffering. 

Objection  5.  O  but,  if  I  had  that  consolation  which 
you  say  God  reserveth  for  our  suffering  times,  I  should 
suffer  more  contentedly  :  but  I  do  not  perceive  any  such 
thing. 

Answer  1.  The  more  you  suffer  for  righteousness' 
sake,  the  more  of  this  blessing  you  may  expect ;  and  the 
more  you  suffer  for  your  own  evil  doing,  the  longer  you 
must  look  to  stay  till  that  sweetness  come.  When  we 
have  by  our  folly  provoked  God  to  chastise  us,  shall  we 
presently  look  that  he  should  fill  us  with  comfort? 
"That  were,"  as  Mr.  Paul  Bayn  saith,  "to  make  afflic- 
tion to  be  no  affliction."  What  good  would  the  bitter- 
ness do  us,  if  it  be  presently  drowned  in  that  sweetness? 
It  is  well  in  such  sufferings  if  you  have  but  supporting 
grace  ;  and  if  your  sufferings  are  sanctified  to  work  out 
your  sin. 

2.  Do  you  not  neglect  or  resist  the  comforts  which 
you  desire  ?  God  hath  filled  precepts  and  promises, 
and  other  of  his  providences,  with  matter  of  comfort :  if 
you  overlook  all  these,  and  observe  one  cross  more  than 
a  thousand  mercies,  who  maketh  you  uncomfortable  but 
yourselves  ?  If  you  resolve  you  will  not  be  comfort- 
able as  long  as  any  thing  aileth  your  flesh,  you  may  stay 
till  death  before  you  have  comfort. 

3.  Have  your  afflictions  wrought  kindly  with  you, 
and  fitted  you  for  comfort?  Have  they  humbled  you, 
and  brought  you  to  a  faithful  confession  and  reformation 


162  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

of  your  beloved  sin?  and  made  you  set  close  to  your 
neglected  duties  ?  and  weaned  your  hearts  from  their 
former  idols  ?  and  brought  them  unfeignedly  to  take 
God  for  their  portion  and  their  rest?  If  this  be  not 
done,  how  can  you  expect  comfort  ?  Should  God  bind 
up  the  sore  while  it  festereth  at  the  bottom?  It  is  not 
mere  suffering  that  prepares  you  for  comfort ;  but  the 
success  and  fruit  of  suffering  upon  your  hearts. 


CHi^PTER  XL 

AN  EXHORTATION  TO  THOSE  THAT  HAVE  GOT  ASSURANCE  OF  THIS 
REST,  THAT  THEY  WOULD  DO  ALL  THEY  POSSIBLY  CAN  TO  HELP 
OTHERS  TO  IT. 

Hath  God  set  before  us  such  a  glorious  prize  as  this 
everlasting  rest,  and  made  man  capable  of  such  an  in- 
conceivable happiness  ?  Why  then  do  not  all  the  chil- 
dren of  this  kingdom  bestir  ■  themselves  more  to  help 
others  to  the  enjoyment  of  it  ?  Alas,  how  little  are  poor 
souls  about  us  beholden  to  the  most  of  us  !  We  see  the 
glory  of  the  kingdom,  and  they  do  not :  we  see  the 
misery  and  torment  of  those  that  miss  of  it,  and  they  do 
not:  we  see  them  wandering  quite  out  of  the  way,  and 
know  if  they  hold  on  they  can  never  come  there,  and 
they  discern  not  this  themselves.  And  yet  we  will  not 
set  upon  them  seriously,  and  show  them  their  danger 
and  error,  and  help  to  bring  them  into  the  way  that  they 
may  live.  Alas,  how  few  Christians  are  there  to  be 
found,  that  live  as  men  that  are  made  to  do  good,  and 
that  set  themselves  with  all  their  might  to  the  saving  of 
souls  !  No  thanks  to  us  if  heaven  be  not  empty,  and  if 
the  souls  of  our  brethren  perish  not  for  ever. 

But  because  this  is  a  duty  which  so  many  neglect,  and 
so  few  are  convinced  that  God  doth  expect  it  at  their 
hands,  and  yet  a  duty  of  so  high  concernment  to  the 
glory  of  God,  and  the  happiness  of  men,  I  will  speak  of 
it  somewhat  the  more  largely,  and  show  you,  1.  Where- 
in it  doth  consist.  2.  What  is  the  cause  that  it  is  so 
neglected.  3.  Give  some  considerations  to  persuade 
you  to  the  performance  of  it,  and  others  to  the  bearing 


THE   saints'    everlasting   REST.  163 

of  it.  4.  Apply  this  more  particularly  to  some  persons 
whom  ifdoth  nearly  concern. 

I  would  have  you  well  understand  what  is  this 
work  which  I  am  persuading  you  to.  Know  then  on 
the  negative, 

1.  It  is  not  to  invade  the  office  of  the  ministry,  and 
every  man  to  turn  a  public  preacher.  I  would  not  have 
you  go  beyond  the  bounds  of  your  calling :  we  see  by 
daily  experience  what  fruits  those  men's  teaching  doth 
bring  forth  who  run  uncalled  of  God,  and  thrust  them- 
selves into  the  place  bf  public  teachers,  thinking  them- 
selves the  fittest  for  the  work  in  the  pride  of  their 
hearts,  while  they  had  need  to  be  taught  the  very  prin- 
ciples of  religion.  How  little  doth  God  bless  the  la- 
bours of  these  self-conceited  intruders,  even  if  they  be 
ordained ! 

3.  Neither  do  I  persuade  you  to  a  zealous  promoting 
of  factions  and  parties,  and  venting  of  uncertain  opinions, 
which  men's  sahation  is  little  concerned  in.  Alas,  what 
advantage  hath  the  devil  always  got  in  the  Church  by 
this  imposture  !  The  time  that  should  be  employed  in 
drawing  men's  souls  from  sin  to  Christ,  is  employed  in 
drawing  them  to  opinions  and  parties :  when  men  are 
fallen  in  love  with  their  own  conceits,  and  think  them- 
selves the  wisest,  how  diligently  do  they  labour  to  get 
them  followers  ?  as  if  to  make  a  man  a  proselyte  to  their 
opinions  were  as  happy  a  work  as  to  convert  him  to 
Christ !  and  when  they  fall  among  the  lighter,  ignorant 
sort  of  men,  whose  religion  is  all  in  the  brain,  and  on 
their  tongue,  they  seldom  fail  of  success.  These  men 
shall  shortly  know  that  to  bring  a  man  to  the  know- 
ledge and  love  of  Christ,  is  another  kind  of  work  than 
to  bring  him  to  be  baptized  again,  or  to  be  of  such  a 
Church,  or  such  a  side.  Unhappy  are  the  souls  that  are 
taken  in  their  snare ;  who,  when  they  have  spent  their 
lives  in  contending  for  the  circumstantials  of  religion, 
which  should  have  been  spent  in  studying  and  loving 
the  Lord  Jesus,  do  in  the  end  reap  an  empty  harvest, 
suitable  to  their  empty  profession. 

3.  Nor  do  I  persuade  you  to  speak  against  men's 
faults  behind  their  backs,  and  be  silent  before  their  faces, 
as  the  common  custom  of  the  world  is.     To  tell  other 


164  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

men  of  their  faults,  tendeth  little  to  their  reformation,  if 
they  hear  it  not  themselves.  To  whisper  men's  faults 
to  others,  as  it  cometh  not  from  love,  or  from  an  honest 
principle,  so  usually  doth  it  produce  no  good  effect ;  for 
if  the  party  hear  not  of  it,  it  cannot  better  him  ;  if  he 
do,  he  will  take  it  but  as  the  reproach  of  an  enemy,  and 
not  as  the  faithful  counsel  of  a  friend,  and  as  that  which 
is  spoken  to  make  him  odious,  and  not  to  make  him 
virtuous ;  it  tendeth  not  to  provoke  to  godliness,  but  to 
raise  contention ;  for  "  a  whisperer  separateth  chief 
friends."  And  how  few  shall  we  find  that  make  con- 
science of  this  horrible  sin  ?  or  that  will  confess  it, 
and  bewail  it,  when  they  are  reprehended  for  it  ?  espe- 
cially if  men  are  speaking  of  their  enemies,  or  those 
that  have  wronged  them,  or  whom  they  suppose  to  have 
wronged  them ;  or  if  it  be  of  one  that  eclipseth  their 
glory,  or  that  standeth  in  the  way  of  their  gain  or  es- 
teem ;  or  if  it  be  one  that  differeth  from  them  in  judg- 
ment; or  of  one  that  is  commonly  spoke  against  by 
others  ;  who  is  it  that  maketh  any  conscience  of  back- 
biting such  as  these  ?  And  you  shall  ever  observe  that 
the  forwarder  they  are  in  backbiting,  the  more  backward 
always  to  faithful  admonishing  ;  and  none  speak  less  of 
a  man's  faults  to  his  face,  than  those  that  speak  most  of 
them  behind  his  back. 

So  far  am  I  from  persuading  therefore  to  this  pre- 
posterous course,  that  I  would  advise  you  to  oppose  it 
wherever  you  meet  with  it.  See  that  you  never  hear  a 
man  speaking  against  his  neighbour  behind  his  back, 
(without  some  special  cause  or  call,)  but  presently 
rebuke  him:  ask  him.  Whether  he  hath  spoke  those 
things  in  a  way  of  love  to  his  face  ?  If  he  hath  not, 
ask  him.  How  he  dare  to  pervert  God's  prescribed  order, 
who  commandeth  to  rebuke  our  neighbour  plainly,  and 
to  tell  him  his  fault  first  in  private,  and  then  before 
witness,  till  he  see  whether  he  will  be  won  or  not? 
And  how  he  dare  do  as  he  would  not  be  done  by  ? 

The  duty  therefore  that  I  would  press  you  to  is  of 
another  nature,  and  it  consisteth  in  these  things  fol- 
lowing : — 

1.  That  you  get  your  hearts  aff*ected  with  the  misery 
of  your  brethren's   souls  ;    be   compassionate   toward 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  165 

them  ;  yearn  after  their  salvation.  If  you  did  earnestly 
long  after  their  conversion,  and  your  hearts  were  fully 
set  to  do  them  good,  it  would  set  you  on  work,  and  God 
would  usually  bless  it. 

2.  Take  all  opportunities  that  possibly  you  can,  to 
instruct  and  help  them  to  the  attaining  of  salvation. 
And,  lest  you  should  not  know  how  to  manage  this  work, 
let  me  tell  you  more  particularly  what  you  are  herein  to 
do.  1.  If  it  be  an  ignorant  person  you  have  to  deal 
with,  who  is  an  utter  stranger  to  the  mysteries  of  re- 
ligion, and  to  the  work  of  regeneration,  the  first  thing 
you  have  to  do  is,  to  acquaint  him  with  these  doctrines : 
labour  to  make  him  understand  wherein  man's  chief 
happiness  doth  consist ;  and  how  far  he  was  once  pos- 
sessed of  it ;  and  what  law  and  covenant  God  then 
made  with  him  ;  and  how  he  broke  it ;  and  what  penalty 
he  incurred,  and  what  misery  he  brought  himself  into 
thereby  :  teach  him  what  need  men  had  of  a  Redeemer ; 
and  how  Christ  in  mercy  did  interpose,  and  bear  the 
penalty ;  and  what  covenant  now  he  hath  made  with 
man ;  and  on  what  terms  only  salvation  is  now  to  be 
attained ;  and  what  course  Christ  taketh  to  draw  men  to 
himself;  and  v/hat  are  the  riches  and  privileges  that 
believers  have  in  him. 

If,  when  he  understands  these  things,  he  be  not  moved 
by  them  ;  or  if  you  find  that  the  stop  lieth  in  his  will 
and  afiections,  and  in  the  hardness  of  his  heart,  and  in 
the  interest  that  the  flesh  and  the  world  have  got  in  him  ; 
then  show  him  the  excellence  of  the  glory  which  he 
neglecteth,  and  the  intolerableness  of  the  loss  of  it,  and 
the  extremity  and  eternity  of  the  torments  of  the 
damned',  and  how  certainly  they  must  endure  them  ;  and 
how  just  it  is  for  their  wilful  refusals  of  grace  ;  and  how 
heinous  a  sin  it  is  to  reject  such  free  and  abundant 
mercy,  and  to  tread  under  foot  the  blood  of  the  covenant: 
show  him  the  certainty,  nearness,  and  terrors  of  death 
and  judgment,  and  the  vanity  of  all  things  below,  which 
now  he  is  taken  up  with  ;  and  how  little  they  will 
bestead  him  in  that  time  of  his  extremity :  show  him 
that  by  nature  he  himself  is  a  child  of  wrath,  an  enemy 
to  God ;  and  by  actual  sin  much  more  :  show  him  the 
vile  and  heinous  nature  of  sin;  the  absolute  necessity 


166  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

he  standeth  in  of  a  Saviour  ;  the  freeness  of  the  piomise; 
the  fulness  of  Christ ;  the  sufficiency  of  his  satisfaction  ; 
his  readiness  to  receive  all  that  are  willing  to  be  his  ; 
and  the  authority  and  dominion  which  he  hath  purchased 
over  us  :  show  him  also  the  absolute  necessity  of  regen- 
eration, faith,  and  holiness ;  how  impossible  it  is  to  have 
salvation  by  Christ  without  these ;  and  what  they. are, 
and  the  true  nature  of  them. 

If,  when  he  understandeth  all  this,  you  find  his  soul 
enthralled  in  false  hopes,  persuading  himself  that  he  is 
a  true  believer,  and  pardoned,  and  reconciled,  and  shall 
be  saved  by  Christ,  and  all  this  upon  false  grounds, 
(which  is  a  common  case,)  then  urge  him  hard  to  ex- 
amine his  state :  show  him  the  necessity  of  trying ;  the 
danger  of  being  deceived  ;  the  commonness  and  easiness 
of  mistaking  through  the  deceitfulness  of  the  heart ;  the 
extreme  madness  of  putting  it  to  a  blind  venture ;  or  of 
resting  in  negligent  or  wilful  uncertainty ;  help  him  in 
trying  himself ;  produce  some  undeniable  evidences 
from  Scripture ;  ask  him  whether  these  be  in  him  or 
not?  Whether  ever  he  found  such  workings  or  dis- 
positions in  his  heart  ?  Urge  him  to  a  rational  answer : 
do  not  leave  him  till  you  have  convinced  him  of  his 
misery  ;  and  then  seasonably  and  wisely  show  him  the 
remedy. 

If  he  produces  some  gifts,  or  duties,  or  works,  know 
to  what  end  he  doth  produce  them  :  if  to  join  with 
Christ  in  composing  him  a  righteousness,  show  him  how 
vain  and  destructive  they  are  :  if  it  be  by  way  of 
evidence  to  prove  his  title  to  Christ,  show  him  wherein 
the  life  of  Christianity  doth  consist,  and  how  far  he 
must  go  farther,  if  he  will  be  Christ's  disciple.  In  the 
mean  time  that  he  be  not  discouraged  with  hearing  of  sn 
high  a  measure,  show  him  the  way  by  Avhich  he  must 
attain  it ;  be  sure  to  draw  him  to  the  use  of  all  means ; 
set  him  on  hearing  and  reading  the  word,  calling  upon 
God,  accompanying  the  godly ;  persuade  him  to  leave 
his  actual  sin,  and  to  get  out  of  all  ways  of  temptation, 
especially  to  forsake  ungodly  company,  and  to  wait 
patiently  on  God  in  the  use  of  means ;  and  show  him 
the  strong  hopes  that  in  so  doing  he  may  have  a  blessing ; 
this  being  the  way  that  God  will  be  found  in. 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  167 

If  you  perceive  him  possessed  with  any  prejudices 
against  the  way  of  holiness,  show  him  their  falsehood, 
and  with  wisdom  and  meekness  answer  his  objections. 

If  he  be  addicted  to  delay  duties  he  is  convinced  of, 
or  laziness  and  stupidity  endanger  his  soul,  then  lay  it 
on  more  powerfully,  and  set  home  upon  his  heart  the 
most  piercing  considerations,  and  labour  to  fasten  them 
as  thorns  in  his  conscience,  that  he  may  find  no  ease  or 
rest  till  he  change  his  estate. 

But  because  in  all  works  the  manner  of  doing  them 
is  of  greatest  moment,  and  the  right  performance  doth 
much  farther  the  success,  I  will  here  adjoin  a  few  direc- 
tions, which  you  must  be  sure  to  observe  in  this  work 
of  exhortation  ;  for  it  is  not  every  advice  that  useth  to 
succeed,  nor  any  manner  of  doing  it  that  will  serve  the 
turn.     Observe  therefore  these  rules  ; — 

1.  Set  upon  the  work  sincerely,  and  with  right  inten- 
tions. Let  thy  end  be  the  glory  of  God  in  the  party's 
salvation.  Do  it  not  to  get  a  name  or  esteem  to  thyself; 
or  to  bring  men  to  depend  upon  thee ;  or  to  get  thee 
many  followers  ;  do  not  as  many  parents  and  masters 
will  do,  viz.,  rebuke  their  children  and  servants  for  those 
sins  that  displease  them,  and  are  against  their  profit  or 
their  humours,  as  disobedience,  unthriftiness,  unmanner- 
liness  ;  but  never  seek  in  the  right  way  that  God  hath 
appointed  to  save  their  souls.  But  be  sure  the  main 
end  be  to  recover  them  from  misery,  and  bring  them 
into  the  way  of  eternal  rest. 

2.  Do  it  speedily,  as  you  would  not  have  them  delay 
their  return,  so  do  not  thou  delay  to  seek  their  return. 
You  are  purposing  long  to  speak  to  such  an  ignorant 
neighbour,  and  to  deal  with  such  a  scandalous  sinner, 
and  yet  you  have  never  done  it.  Alas,  he  runs  on  the 
score  all  this  while  ;  he  goes  deeper  in  debt ;  wrath  is 
heaping  up ;  sin  taketh  rooting ;  custom  doth  more 
fasten  him  ;  engagements  to  sin  grow  stronger  and  more 
numerous ;  conscience  grows  seared ;  the  heart  grows 
hardened  ;  while  you  delay,  the  devil  rules  and  rejoiccth  ; 
Christ  is  shut  out ;  the  Spirit  is  repulsed ;  God  is  daily 
dishonoured ;  his  law  is  violated  ;  he  is  without  a  ser- 
vant, and  that  service  from  him  which  he  should  have  ; 
time  runs  on  ;  the  day  of  visitation  hasteth  ;  death  and 


168  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

judgment  are  at  the  door  ;  and  what  if  the  man  die  and 
miss  of  heaven,  while  you  are  purposing  to  teach  him 
and  help  him  to  it  ?  If  in  case  of  his  bodily  distress, 
you  must  not  bid  him  go,  and  come  again  to-morrow, 
when  you  have  it  by  you  ;  how  much  less  may  you 
delay  the  succour  of  his  soul?  If  once  death  snatch 
him  away,  he  is  then  out  of  the  reach  of  your  charity. 
That  physician  is  no  better  than  a  murderer  that  negli- 
gently delayeth  till  his  patient  be  dead,  or  past  cure. 
Delay  in  duty  is  a  great  degree  of  disobedience,  though 
you  afterward  perform  it.  It  shows  an  ill  heart  that  is 
indisposed  to  the  work.  O  how  many  a  poor  sinner 
perisheth,  or  grows  rooted,  and  next  to  incurable  in  sin, 
while  we  are  purposing  to  seek  their  recovery  !  Oppor- 
tunities last  not  always.  When  thou  hearest  that  the 
sinner  is  dead,  or  removed,  or  grown  obstinate,  will  not 
conscience  say  to  thee.  How  knowest  thou  but  thou 
mightest  have  prevented  the  damnation  of  a  soul  ?  Lay 
by  excuses  then,  and  all  lesser  business,  and  obey  God's 
command,  "  Exhort  one  another  daily,  while  it  is  called 
to-day,  lest  any  be  hardened  through  the  deceitfulness 
of  sin." 

3.  Let  thy  exhortation  proceed  from  compassion  and 
love,  and  let  the  manner  of  it  clearly  show  the  person 
thou  dealest  with  that  it  does.  It  is  not  jeering,  or 
scorning,  or  reproaching  a  man  for  his  fault  that  is  a 
likely  way  to  work  his  reformation  ;  nor  is  it  the  right 
way  to  convert  him  to  God,  to  rail  at  him,  and  vilify 
him  with  words  of  disgrace.  Men  will  take  them  for 
their  enemies  that  thus  deal  with  them  ;  and  the  words 
of  an  enemy  are  little  persuading.  Lay  by  your  passion, 
therefore,  and  go  to  poor  sinners  with  tears  in  your 
eyes,  that  they  may  see  you  indeed  believe  them  to  be 
miserable,  and  that  you  unfeignedly  pity  -their  case ; 
deal  with  them  with  earnest  humble  entreatings.  Let 
them  see  that  your  very  bowels  yearn  over  them,  and 
that  it  is  the  very  desire  of  your  hearts  to  do  them  good  : 
let  them  perceive  that  you  have  no  other  end  but  the 
procuring  their  everlasting  happiness  ;  and  that  it  is 
your  sense  of  their  danger,  and  your  love  to  their  souls 
that  forces  you  to  speak  ;  even  because  you  know  the 
terrors  of  the  Lord,  and  for  fear  lest  you  should  see 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  169 

them  in  eternal  torments.  Say  to  them,  Why,  friend, 
you  know  it  is  no  advantage  of  my  own  that  I  seek. 
The  way  to  please  you,  and  to  keep  your  friendship, 
were  to  soothe  you  in  your  own  way,  or  to  let  you  alone ; 
but  love  will  not  sutler  me  to  see  you  perish,  and  be 
silent ;  I  seek  nothing  at  your  hands  but  that  which  is 
necessary  to  your  own  happiness.  It  is  yourself  that 
will  have  the  gain  and  comfort,  if  you  come  in  to  Christ. 
If  men  would  thus  go  to  every  ignorant  wicked  neigh- 
bour they  have,  and  thus  deal  with  them,  O  what  blessed 
fruit  should  we  quickly  see  ! 

I  am  ashamed  to  hear  some  lazy,  hypocritical  wretches 
revile  their  poor  ignorant  neighbours,  and  separate  from 
their  company,  and  judge  them  unfit  for  their  society, 
before  ever  they  once  tried  them  with  this  compassion- 
ate exhortation  !  O  you  little  know  what  a  prevailing 
course  this  were  like  to  prove  !  And  how  few  of  the 
vilest  drunkards  or  swearers  would  prove  so  obstinate, 
as  wholly  to  reject  or  despise  the  exhortations  of  love ! 
I  know  it  must  be  God  that  must  change  men's  hearts  ; 
but  I  know  also  that  God  worketh  by  means,  and  when 
he  meaneth  to  prevail  with  men,  he  usually  fitteth  the 
means  accordingly,  and  stirreth  up  men  to  plead  with 
them  in  a  prevailing  way,  and  so  setteth  in  with  his 
grace,  and  maketh  it  successful.  Certainly  those  that 
have  tried  can  tell  you  by  experience  that  there  is  no 
way  so  prevailing  with  men  as  the  way  of  compassion 
and  love.  So  much  of  these  as  they  discern  in  your 
exhortation,  usually  so  much  doth  it  succeed  with  their 
hearts  :  and  therefore  I  beseech  those  that  are  faithful 
to  practise  this  course.  Alas,  we  see  most  people  among 
us,  yea,  those  that  would  seem  godly,  cannot  bear  a 
reproof  that  comes  not  in  meekness  and  love  !  if  there 
be  the  least  passion,  or  relish  of  disgrace  in  it,  they  are 
ready  to  spit  in  your  face.  Yea,  if  you  do  not  sweeten 
your  reproof  with  fair  words,  they  cannot  digest  it;  but 
their  heart  will  rise  up  against  you  instead  of  a  thankful 
submission  and  a  reformation.  O  that  it  were  not  too 
evident  that  the  Pharisee  is  yet  alive  in  the  breasts  of 
many  thousands  that  seem  religious,  even  in  this  one 
point  of  bearing  plain  and  sharp  reproof!  "  They  bind 
heavy  burdens  and  grievous  to  be  borne,  and  lay  them 
8 


170  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

on  men's  shoulders  ;  but  they  themselves  will  not  move 
them  with  one  of  their  fingers,"  Matthew  xxiii,  4. 
So  far  are  they  from  doing,  in  this,  as  they  would  be 
done  by. 

4.  Another  direction  I  would  give  you  is  this  :  do  it 
with  all  possible  plainness  and  faithfulness.  Do  not 
dally  with  men,  and  hide  from  them  their  misery  or 
danger,  or  any  part  of  it.  Do  not  make  their  sins  less 
than  they  are ;  nor  speak  of  them  in  extenuating  lan- 
guage. Do  not  encourage  them  in  a  false  hope,  no 
more  than  you  would  discourage  the  fond  hopes  of  the 
righteous.  If  you  see  his  case  dangerous,  tell  him 
plainly  of  it :  Neighbour,  I  am  afraid  God  hath  not  yet 
renewed  your  soul ;  and  that  it  is  yet  a  stranger  to  the 
great  work  of  regeneration  and  sanctification  :  I  doubt 
you  are  not  yet  recovered  from  the  power  of  Satan  to 
God,  nor  brought  out  of  the  state  of  wrath  which  you 
were  born  in,  and  have  lived  in  :  I  doubt  you  have 
not  chosen  Christ  above  all,  nor  set  your  heart  upon 
him,  nor  unfeignedly  taken  him  for  your  sovereign 
Lord.  If  you  had,  sure  you  durst  not  so  easily  disobey 
him  :  you  could  not  so  neglect  him  and  his  worship  in 
your  family  and  in  public :  you  could  not  so  eagerly 
follow  the  world,  and  talk  of  almost  nothing  but  the 
things  of  this  world,  while  Christ  is  seldom  mentioned 
by  you.  If  you  were  in  Christ,  you  would  become  a 
new  creajLure  :  old  things  would  be  passed  away,  and 
all  things  would  become  new;  you  would  have  new 
thoughts,  and  new  talk,  'and  new  com.pany,  and  new 
endeavours,  and  a  new  conversation  :  certainly  without 
these  you  can  never  be  saved  :  you  may  think  other- 
wise, and  hope  better  as  long  as  you  will,  but  your 
hopes  will  deceive  you,  and  perish  with  you.  Alas  ! 
it  is  not  as  you  will,  nor  as  I  will,  who  shall  be  saved, 
but  it  is  as  God  will ;  and  God  hath  told  us  that  "  with- 
out holiness  none  shall  see  him  :"  and  "  except  we  be 
born  again,  we  cannot  enter  into  his  kingdom  :"  and 
"  that  all  that  would  not  have  Christ  to  reign  over  them, 
shall  be  brought  forth  and  destroyed  before  him."  O 
therefore  look  to  your  state  in  time. 

Thus  must  you  deal  roundly  and  faithfully  with  men, 
if  ever  you  intend  to  do  them  good.     It  is  not  hovering 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  171 

at  a  distance  in  a  general  discourse  that  will  serve  the 
turn :  it  is  not  in  curing  men's  souls,  as  in  curing  their 
bodies,  where  they  must  not  know  their  danger,  lest  it 
sadden  them,  and  hinder  the  cure.  They  are  here 
agents  in  their  own  cure,  and  if  they  know  not  their 
misery,  they  will  never  bewail  it,  nor  know  how  much 
need  they  have  of  a  Saviour  :  if  they  know  not  the 
worst,  they  will  not  labour  to  prevent  it ;  but  will  sit 
still  or  loiter  till  they  drop  into  perdition,  and  will  trifle 
out  their  time  till  it  be  too  late  :  and  therefore  speak  to 
men  as  Christ  to  the  Pharisees,  till  they  knew  that  he 
meant  them.  Deal  plainly,  or  you  do  but  deceive  and 
destroy  them. 

5.  And  as  you  must  do  it  plainly,  so  also  seriously, 
zealously,  and  effectually.  The  exceeding  stupidity  and 
deadness  of  men's  hearts  is  such,  that  no  other  dealing 
will  ordinarily  work.  You  must  call  aloud  to  awake  a 
man  in  a  swoon  or  lethargy.  If  you  speak  to  the 
common  sort  of  men  of  the  evil  of  their  sin,  of  their 
need  of  Christ,  of  the  danger  of  their  souls,  and  of  the 
necessity  of  regeneration,  they  wdll  wearily  and  unwil- 
lingly give  you  the  hearing,  and  put  off  all  with  a  sigh, 
or  a  few  good  wishes,  and  say,  God  forgive  us,  we  are 
all  sinners,  and  there  is  an  end.  If  ever  you  will  do 
them  good,  therefore,  you  must  sharpen  your  exhorta- 
tion, and  set  it  home,  and  follow  it,  till  you  have  roused 
them  up,  and  made  them  begin  to  look  about  them. 
Let  them  know  that  thou  speakest  not  to  them  of  indif- 
ferent things,  nor  about  children's  games,  or  matters  of 
a  few  days  or  years'  continuance,  nor  yet  about  matters 
of  uncertainty,  which  may  never  come  to  pass :  but  it 
is  about  the  saving  and  damning  of  their  souls  and 
bodies  ;  and  whether  they  shall  be  blessed  with  Christ, 
or  tormented  with  devils,  and  that  for  ever  and  ever  :  it 
is  how  to  stand  before  God  in  judgment,  and  what 
answer  to  give,  and  how  they  are  like  to  speed;  and 
this  judgment  and  eternal  state  they  shall  very  shortly 
see,  they  are  almost  at  it;  yet  a  few  more  nights  and 
days,  and  they  shall  be  at  that  last  day ;  a  few  more 
breaths  they  have  to  breathe,  and  they  shall  breathe 
their  last ;  and  then  as  certainly  shall  •  they  see  that 
mighty  change  as  the  heaven  is  over  their  heads,  and 


IT^  THE   saints'   everlasting  REST. 

the  earth  under  their  feet.  O  labour  to  make  men 
know  that  it  is  mad  jesting  about  salvation  or  damnation : 
and  that  heaven  and  hell  are  not  matters  to  be  played 
with,  or  passed  over  with  a  few  careless  thoughts  !  It 
is  most  certain  that  one  of  these  days  thou  shalt  be  either 
in  everlasting,  unchangeable  joy  or  torment ;  and  doth 
it  not  awake  thee  ?  Are  there  so  few  that  find  the  way 
of  death  ?  Is  it  so  hard  to  escape  ?  so  easy  to  miscarry? 
and  that  while  we  fear  nothing,  but  think  all  is  well? 
And  yet  you  sit  still  and  trifle  !  Why,  what  do  you 
mean  ?  What  do  you  think  on  ?  The  world  is  passing 
away  ;  its  pleasures  are  fading ;  its  honours  are  leaving 
you  ;  its  profits  will  prove  unprofitable  to  you  ;  heaven 
or  hell  are  a  little  before  you  ;  God  is  just  and  jealous  ; 
his  threatenings  are  true  ;  the  great  day  of  his  judgment 
will  be  terrible  ;  your  time  runs  on  ;  your  lives  are 
uncertain  ;  you  are  far  behindhand ;  you  have  loitered 
long;  your  case  is  dangerous;  your  souls  are  far  gone 
in  sin  ;  you  are  strange  to  God  ;  you  are  hardened  in 
evil  customs  ;  you  have  no  assurance  of  comfort  to 
show  ;  if  you  die  to-morrow,  how  unready  are  you  ! 
And  with  what  terror  will  your  souls  go  out  of  your 
bodies!  And  do  you  yet  loiter?  Why,  consider  God 
standeth  all  this  while  waiting  your  leisure  :  his  patience 
beareth  ;  his  justice  forbeareth ;  his  mercy  entreateth 
you;  Christ  standeth  offering  you  his  blood  and  merits  ; 
you  may  have  him  freely,  and  live  with  him  ;  the  Spirit 
is  persuading;  conscience  is  accusing  and  urging  you; 
ministers  are  praying  for  you,  and  calling  upon  you  ; 
Satan  stands  waiting  when  justice  will  cut  off  your 
lives  that  he  may  have  you  :  this  is  your  time  ;  now  or 
never.  What!  had  you  rather  lose  heaven  than  your 
profits  or  pleasures  ?  Had  you  rather  burn  in  hell  than 
repent  on  earth?  Had  you  rather  howl  and  roar  there, 
than  pray  day  and  night  for  mercy  here  ?  Or  have 
devils  your  tormentors,  than  Christ  your  governor? 
Will  you  renounce  your  part  in  God  and  glory,  rather 
than  renounce  your  sins  ?  Do  you  think  a  holy  life  too 
much  for  heaven  ;  or  too  dear  a  course  to  prevent  end- 
less misery?  O  friends,  what  do  you  think  of  these 
things  ?  God 'hath  made  you  men,  and  endued  you  with 
reason  :  do  you  renounce  your  reason  where  you  should 


THE  saints'   everlasting  REST.  173 

chiefly  use  it  ?  In  this  manner  you  must  deal  roundly 
and  seriously  with  men.  Alas !  it  is  not  a  few  dull 
words  between  jest  and  earnest,  between  sleep  and 
waking,  as  it  were,  that  will  waken  an  ignorant  dead- 
hearted  sinner.  When  a  dull  hearer  and  a  dull  speaker 
meet  together,  a  dead  heart  and  a  dead  exhortation,  it  is 
unlike  to  have  a  lively  efl^ect.  If  a  man  fall  down  in  a 
swoon,  you  will  not  stand  trifling  with  him,  but  lay 
hands  on  him  presently,  and  snatch  him  up,  and  rub  him, 
and  call  aloud  to  him :  if  a  house  be  on  fire,  you  will 
not  in  a  cold  strain  go  tell  your  neighbour  of  it,  or  make 
an  oration  of  the  nature  and  danger  of  fire  ;  but  you 
.will  run  out  and  cry.  Fire,  fire  :  matters  of  moment  must 
be  seriously  dealt  with.  To  tell  a  man  of  his  sins  so 
softly  as  Eli  did  his  sons,  or  reprove  him  so  gently  as 
Jehoshaphat  did  Ahab,  "  Let  not  the  king  say  so,"  doth 
usually  as  much  harm  as  good.  I  am  persuaded  the 
very  manner  of  some  men's  reproof  and  exhortation 
hath  hardened  many  a  sinner  in  the  way  of  destruction. 
To  tell  them  of  sin,  or  of  heaven  or  hell,  in  a  dull,  easy, 
careless  language,  doth  make  men  think  you  are  not  in 
good  earnest ;  but  scarce  think  yourselves  such  things 
are  true.  O  sirs,  deal  with  sin  as  sin,  and  speak  of 
heaven  and  hell  as  they  are,  and  not  as  if  you  were  in 
jest.  I  confess  I  have  failed  much  in  this  myself ;  the 
Lord  lay  it  not  to  my  charge  !  Loathness  to  displease 
men  makes  us  undo  them. 

6.  Yet  lest  you  run  into  extremes,  I  advise  you  to  do 
it  with  discretion.  Be  as  serious  as  you  can ;  but  yet 
with  wisdom.  And  especially  you  must  be  wise  in  these 
things  following : — 

I.  In  choosing  the  fittest  season  for  your  exhortation ; 
not  to  deal  with  men  when  they  are  in  a  passion,  or 
where  they  will  take  it  for  a  disgrace.  Men  should 
observe  when  sinners  are  fittest  to  hear  instructions. 
Physic  must  not  be  given  at  all  times,  but  in  season. 
It  is  an  excellent  example  that  Paul  giveth  us,  Gala- 
tians  ii,  2.  He  communicated  the  Gospel  to  them,  yet 
privately  to  them  of  reputation,  lest  he  should  run  in 
vain.  Some  men  would  take  this  to  be  a  sinful  com- 
plying with  their  corruption,  to  yield  so  far  to  their 
pride  and  bashfulness  as  to  teach  them  only  in  private, 


174  TKE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

because  they  would  be  ashamed  to  own  the  truth  in 
public :  but  Paul  knew  how  great  a  hinderance  men's 
reputation  is  to  their  entertaining-  of  the  truth,  and  that 
the  remedy  must  not  only  be  fitted  to  the  disease,  but 
also  to  the  strength  of  the  patient ;  and  that  in  so  doing, 
the  physician  is  not  guilty  of  favouring  the  disease,  but 
is  praiseworthy  for  taking  the  right  way  to  cure.  Means 
will  work  easily  if  you  take  the  opportunity ;  when  the 
earth  is  soft  the  plough  will  enter.  Take  a  man  when 
he  is  under  afiliction,  or  in  the  house  of  mourning,  or 
newly  stirred  by  some  moving  sermon,  and  then  set  it 
home,  and  you  may  do  him  some  good.  Christian  faith- 
fulness doth  require  us,  not  only  to  do  good  when  it 
falls  in  our  way,  but  to  watch  for  opportunities. 

2.  Be  wise  also  in  suiting  your  exhortation  to  the  qua- 
lity and  temper  of  the  person.  All  meats  are  not  for 
all  stomachs  :  one  man  will  vomit  that  up  which  another 
will  digest.  1.  If  it  be  a  learned,  or  ingenious  ra- 
tional man,  you  must  deal  more  by  convincing  argu- 
ments, and  less  by  passionate  persuasions.  2.  If  it  be 
one  that  is  both  ignorant  and  stupid,  there  is  need  of 
both.  3.  If  one  that  is  convinced,  but  not  converted, 
you  must  use  most  those  means  that  rouse  the  affec- 
tions. 4.  If  they  be  obstinate  and  secure,  you  must  re- 
prove them  sharply.  5.  If  they  be  of  timorous,  tender 
natures,  they  must  be  tenderly  dealt  with.  All  cannot 
bear  that  rough  dealing  that  some  can.  Love,  and  plain- 
ness, and  seriousness  take  with  all ;  but  words  of  terror 
some  can  scarce  bear. 

3.  You  must  be  wise  also  in  using  the  aptest  expres- 
sions. Many  a  minister  doth  deliver  most  excellent 
matter  in  such  harsh  and  unseeming  language,  that  it 
makes  the  hearers  loathe  the  food  that  they  should  live 
by,  and  laugh  at  a  sermon  that  might  make  them  quake  ; 
especially  if  they  be  men  of  curious  ears,  and  carnal 
hearts,  and  have  more  wit  and  parts  than  the  speaker. 
And  so  it  is  in  private  exhortation  as  well  as  public  :  if 
you  clothe  the  most  amiable  truth  in  the  sordid  rags  of 
unbeseeming  language,  you  will  make  men  disdain  it, 
though  it  be  the  offspring  of  God,  and  of  the  highest 
nature. 

4.  Let  all  your  reproofs  and  exhortations  be  backed 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  175 

with  the  authority  of  God  Let  the  sinner  be  convinced 
that  you  speak  not  from  yourselves,  or  of  your  own 
head.  Show  them  the  very  words  of  Scripture  for  what 
you  say :  press  them  with  the  truth  and  authority  of 
God  :  ask  them,  whether  they  beUeve  that  this  is  his 
word,  and  that  his  word  is  true.  So  much  of  God  as 
appeareth  in  our  words,  so  much  will  they  take.  The 
voice  of  man  is  contemptible  ;  but  the  voice  of  God  is 
awful  and  terrible.  Be  sure  therefore  to  make  them 
know  that  you  speak  nothing  but  what  God  hath  spoken 
first. 

5.  You  must  also  be  frequent  with  men  in  this  duty  of 
exhortation ;  it  is  not  once  or  twice  that  usually  will 
prevail.  If  God  himself  must  be  constantly  solicited,  as 
if  importunity  could  prevail  with  him  Avhen  nothing  else 
can  ;  and  therefore  requires  us  "  always  to  pray  and 
not  to  faint,"  the  same  course,  no  doubt,  will  be  most 
prevailing  with  men.  Therefore  we  are  commanded 
*'  to  exhort  one  another  daily,"  and  "  with  all  long  suf- 
fering :  the  fire  is  not  always  brought  out  of  the  flint  at 
one  stroke  ;  nor  men's  affections  kindled  at  the  first  ex- 
hortation." And  if  they  were,  yet  if  they  be  not  fol- 
loAved,  they  will  soon  grow  cold  again.  Weary  out  sin- 
ners with  your  loving  and  earnest  entreaties  :  follow 
them,  and  give  them  no  rest  in  their  sin.  This  is  true 
charity,  and  this  is  the  way  to  save  men's  souls  ;  and  a 
course  that  will  afford  you  comfort  upon  a  review. 

6.  Strive  to  bring  all  your  exhortations  to  an  issue  ; 
stick  not  in  the  work  done,  but  look  after  the  success. 
I  have  long  observed  it  in  ministers  and  private  men, 
that  if  they  speak  never  so  convincing  words,  and  yet 
all  their  care  is  over  when  they  have  done  their  speech, 
pretending  that,  having  done  their  duty,  they  leave  the 
issue  to  God  ;  these  men  seldom  prosper  in  their  la- 
bours :  but  those  whose  very  heart  is  set  upon  the  work, 
and  that  long  to  see  it  take  for  the  hearer's  conversion, 
and  use  to  inquire  how  it  speeds,  God  usually  blesseth 
their  labours,  though  more  weak.  Labour  therefore  to 
drive  all  your  speeches  to  the  desired  issue.  If  you  are 
reproving  sin,  cease  not  till  (if  it  may  be)  you  have  got 
the  sinner  to  promise  you  to  leave  it,  and  to  avoid  the 
occasions  of  it:  if  you  are  exhorting  to  a  duty,  urge  the 


176  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

party  to  promise  you  presently  to  set  upon  it :  if  you 
would  draw  them  to  Christ,  leave  not  till  you  have  made 
them  confess  that  their  present  state  is  misersble,  and 
not  to  -be  rested  in ;  and  till  they  have  subscribed  to  the 
necessity  of  a  change,  and  promised  you  to  fall  close  to 
the  use  of  means.  O  that  all  Christians  would  be  per- 
suaded to  take  this  course  with  all  their  neighbours  that 
are  yet  enslaved  to  sin,  and  strangers  to  Christ ! 

7.  Lastly,  Be  sure  your  example  exhort  as  well  as 
your  words.  Let  them  see  you  constant  in  all  the  du- 
ties you  persuade  them  to  :  let  them  see  in  your  lives 
that  excellence  above  the  world  which  you  persuade 
them  to  in  your  speeches.  Let  them  see,  by  your  con- 
stant labours  for  heaven,  that  you  indeed  believe  what 
you  would  have  them  believe. 

And  thus  I  have  opened  to  you  the  first  and  great  part 
of  this  duty,  consisting  in  private  exhortation,  for  the 
helping  of  poor  souls  to  this  rest  that  have  yet  no  title 
to  it ;  and  I  have  showed  you  also  the  manner  how  to 
perform  it.     I  will  now  speak  a  little  of  the  next  part. 

1.  Beside  the  duty  of  private  admonition,  you  must  do 
your  utmost  endeavours  to  help  men  to  profit  by  the 
public  ordinances.  And  to  that  end,  first,  do  your  en- 
deavours for  the  procuring  of  faithful  ministers  where 
they  are  wanting.  This  is  God's  ordinary  means  of 
converting  and  saving.  "  How  shall  they  hear  without 
a  preacher  ?"  Not  only  for  your  own  sakes,  therefore, 
but  for  the  poor  miserable  ones  about  you,  do  all  you 
can  to  bring  this  to  pass.  Improve  all  your  interest  and 
diligence  to  this  end.  Ride,  and  go,  and  seek,  and 
make  friends  till  you  prevail.  Who  knoweth  how  many 
souls  may  bless  you,  who  have  been  converted  by  the 
ministry  which  you  have  procured  ?  It  is  a  higher  and 
nobler  work  of  charity,  than  if  you  gave  all  that  you 
have  to  relieve  their  bodies. 

How  small  a  matter  were  it  (and  yet  how  excellent 
a  work)  for  every  gentleman  of  means  in  England  to 
cull  out  some  one  or  two,  or  more  boys  in  the  country 
schools,  who  are  the  choicest  wits,  and  of  the  most  pious 
dispositions,  who  are  poor,  and  unable  to  proceed  in 
learning ;  and  to  maintain  them  till  they  are  fit  for  the 
ministry !     It  were  but  keeping  a  few  superfluous  at- 


THE   SA-INTS'   EVERLASTING  REST.  177 

tendants  the  less  :  if  they  had  hearts  to  it,  it  were  easily- 
spared  out  of  their  rich  apparel,  or  superfluous  diet :  I 
dare  say  they  would  not  be  sorry  for  it  when  they  come 
to  their  reckoning :  one  sumptuous  feast,  or  one  costly 
suit  of  apparel,  would  maintain  a  poor  boy  a  year  or 
two  at  the  university,  who  perhaps  might  come  to  have 
more  true  worth  in  him  than  many  a  glittering  lord,  and 
to  do  God  more  service  in  his  Church  than  ever  they 
did  with  all  their  estates  and  power. 

2.  And  when  you  enjoy  the  blessing  of  the  Gospel, 
you  must  yet  use  your  utmost  diligence  to  help  poor 
souls  to  receive  the  fruit  of  it.  To  which  end  you  must 
draw  them  constantly  to  hear  and  attend  it ;  mind  them 
often  of  what  they  have  heard  ;  draw  them,  if  it  be  pos- 
sible, to  repeat  it  in  their  families  ;  if  that  «Binnot  be, 
then  draw  them  to  come  to  others  that  do  repeat  it,  that 
so  it  may  not  die  in  the  hearing.  The  very  drawing  of 
men  into  the  company  and  acquaintance  of  the  good 
man,  beside  the  benefit  they  have  by  their  endeavours, 
is  of  singular  use  to  the  recovery  of  their  souls.  It  is  a 
means  to  take  off  prejudice,  by  confuting  the  world's 
slanders  of  the  ways  and  people  of  God.  Use  therefore 
often  to  meet  together,  beside  the  more  public  meeting 
in  the  congregation  ;  not  to  vent  any  unsound  opinions, 
nor  at  the  time  of  public  worship,  nor  yet  to  separate 
from  the  Church  whereof  you  are  members ;  but  the 
work  which  I  would  have  you  meet  about  is  this,  to  re- 
peat together  the  word  which  you  have  heard  in  public  ; 
to  pour  out  your  joint  prayers  for  the  Church  and  your- 
selves ;  to  join  in  cheerful  singing  the  praises  of  God  ; 
to  open  your  scruples,  and  doubts,  and  fears,  and  get 
resolution  ;  to  quicken  each  other  in  love  and  heavenli- 
ness,  or  holy  walking  :  and  all  this  not  as  a  separated 
Church,  but  as  a  part  of  the  Church  more  diligent  than 
the  rest  in  redeeming  time,  and  helping  the  souls  of  each 
other  heavenward. 

3.  One  thing  more  I  advise  you ;  if  you  would  have 
souls  saved  by  the  ordinances,  labour  still  to  keep  the 
ordinances  and  ministry  in  esteem.  No  man  will  be 
much  wrought  on  by  that  which  he  despiseth.  I  shall 
confirm  you  herein,  not  in  my  own  words,  but  in  his 
that  I  know  you  dare  not  disregard,  1  Thess.  v,  11-13, 

8* 


178  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

"  Wherefore  comfort  yourselves  together,  and  edify  one 
another,  even  as  ye  also  do.  And  we  beseech  you, 
brethren,  to  know  them  which  labouf  among  you,  and 
are  over  you  in  the  Lord,  and  admonish  you,  and  to 
esteem  them  very  highly  in  love  for  their  work's  sake  ; 
and  be  at  peace  among  yourselves."  "  Obey  them  that 
have  the  rule  over  you,  and  submit  yourselves  ;  for  they 
watch  for  your  souls,  as  those  that  must  give  an  account, 
that  they  may  do  it  with  joy  and  not  with  grief:  for  that 
is  unprofitable  for  you,"  Heb.  xiii,  17. 

Thus  you  see  part  of  your  duty  for  the  salvation  of 
others. 

But  where  shall  we  find  the  man  that  setteth  himself 
to  it  with  all  his  might,  and  that  hath  set  his  heart  upon 
the  souls  •f  his  brethren,  that  they  may  be  saved  ? 

Let  us  here  a  little  inquire  what  may  be  the  causes 
of  the  gross  neglect  of  this  duty,  that  the  hinderances, 
being  discovered,  may  the  more  easily  be  overcome. 

1.  One  hinderance  is,  men's  own  sinfulness  and  guilti- 
ness. They  have  not  been  ravished  themselves  with 
the  heavenly  delights :  how  then  should  they  draw 
others  to  seek  them  ?  They  have  not  felt  the  w  icked- 
ness  of  their  own  nature,  nor  their  lost  condition,  nor 
their  need  of  Christ,  nor  felt  the  renewing  work  of  the 
Spirit :  how  then  can  they  discover  these  to  others  ? 
Ah  that  this  were  not  the  case  of  many  a  learned  preacher 
in  England  !  And  the  cause  why  they  preach  so  fro- 
zenly  !  Men  also  are  guilty  themselves  of  the  sins  they 
should  reprove  ;  and  this  stops  their  mouths,  and  maketh 
them  ashamed  to  reprove. 

2.  Another  hinderance  is,  a  secret  infidelity  prevail- 
ing in  men's  hearts.  Alas,  sirs,  we  do  not  sure  believe 
men's  misery  ;  we  do  not  believe  sure  the  threatenings 
of  God  are  true.  Did  we  verily  believe  that  all  the  un- 
regenerate  and  unholy  shall  be  eternally  tormented,  O 
how  could  we  hold  our  tongues  when  we  are  among  the 
unregenerate ;  how  could  we  choose  but  burst  out  into 
tears  when  we  look  them  in  the  face,  as  the  prophet  did 
when  he  looked  upon  Hazael  ?  especially  when  they  are 
our  kindred  or  friends  that  are  near  and  dear  to  us  ? 
Thus  doth  secret  unbelief  consume  the  vigour  of  each 
each  grace  and  duty.     O  Christians,  if  you  did  verily 


THE   SAINTS     EVERLASTING   REST.  179 

believe  that  your  poor  neighbour,  or  wife,  or  husband, 
or  child,  should  certainly  lie  for  ever  in  the  Hamcs  of 
hell,  except  they  be  thoroughly  changed  before  death 
doth  snatch  them  hence,  would  not  this  make  you  cast 
off"  all  discouragements,  and  lay  at  them  day  and  night 
till  they  were  persuaded  ?  How  could  you  hold  your 
tongue,  or  let  them  alone  another  day,  if  this  were 
soundly  believed  ?  If  you  were  sure  that  any  one  of 
your  dear  friends  that  are  dead  were  now  in  hell,  and 
persuading  to  repentance  would  get  him  out  again, 
would  not  you  persuade  him  day  and  night,  if  he  were 
in  hearing?  And  why  should  you  not  do  as  much  then 
to  prevent  it,  while  he  is  in  your  hearing,  but  that  you 
do  not  believe  God's  word  that  speaks  the  danger  ?  O 
were  it  not  for  this  cursed  unbelief,  our  own  souls  and 
our  neighbour's  would  gain  more  by  us  than  they  do. 

3.  This  faithful  dealing  with  men  for  theif  salvation 
is  much  hindered  also  by  our  want  of  compassion  to 
men's  souls.  We  are  hard-hearted  and  cruel  toAvard 
the  miserable  ;  and  therefore  (as  the  priest  and  the  Le- 
vite  did  by  the  wounded  man)  we  look  on  them,  and 
pass  by.  O  what  tender  hearts  could  endure  to  look 
upon  a  poor,  blind,  forlorn  sinner,  wounded  by  sin, 
and  captivated  by  Satan,  and  never  once  open  their 
mouths  for  his  recovery !  What  though  he  be  silent, 
and  do  not  desire  thy  help  I  yet  his  misery  cries  aloud  ; 
misery  is  the  most  effectual  suitor  to  one  that  is  com- 
passionate :  if  God  had  not  heard  the  cry  of  our  mise- 
ries before  he  heard  the  cry  of  our  prayers,  and  been 
moved  by  his  own  ]>ity  before  he  was  moved  by  our  im- 
portunity, we  might  have  long  enough  continued  the 
slaves  of  Satan.  Alas,  what  pitiful  sights  do  we  daily 
see  !  The  ignorant,  the  profane,  the  neglccters  of  Christ 
and  their  souls  :  their  sores  are  open  and  visible  to  all ; 
and  yet  we  do  not  pity  tliem.  You  will  pray  to  God 
for  them,  in  customary  duties,  that  God  would  open  the 
eyes,  and  turn  the  hearts,  of  your  friends  and  neigh- 
bours ;  and  why  do  you  not  endeavour  their  conversion 
if  you  desire  it  ?  and  if  you  do  not  desire  it,  why  do  you 
ask  it?  Doth  not  your  negligence  convince  you  of  hy- 
pocrisy in  your  prayers,  and  of  abusing  the  most  high 
God  with  your  deceitful  words  ?     Your  nei«rl)bours  are 


180  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

near  you,  your  friends  are  in  the  house  with  you,  yoil 
sat,  and  drink,  and  work,  and  walk,  and  talk  with  them, 
and  yet  you  say  little  or  nothing  to  them.  Why  do 
you  not  pray  them  to  consider  and  return,  as  well  as 
pray  to  God  to  convert  and  turn  them?  Have  you  as 
oft  begged  of  them  to  think  on  their  ways,  and  to  re- 
form, as  you  have  taken  on  you  to  beg  of  God  that  they 
may  do  so  ?  What  if  you  should  see  your  neighbour 
fallen  into  a  pit,  and  you  should  presently  fall  down  on 
your  knees,  and  pray  God  to  help  him  out,  but  would 
neither  put  forth  your  hand  to  help  him,  nor  once  per- 
suade or  direct  him  to  help  himself,  would  not  any  man 
censure  you  to  be  cruel  and  hypocritical  ?  What  the 
Holy  Ghost  saith  of  men's  bodily  miseries,  I  may  say 
much  more  of  the  misery  of  their  souls  :  "  If  any  man 
seeth  his  brother  in  need,  and  shutteth  up  his  compas- 
sion from  him,  how  dwelleth  the  love  of  God  in  him  ?" 
Or  what  love  hath  he  to  his  brother's  soul  ?  The  cha- 
rity of  our  ignorant  forefathers  may  rise  up  in  judgment 
against  us  and  condemn  us  :  they  would  give  all  their 
estates  almost,  for  so  many  masses,  or  pardons,  to  de- 
liver the  souls  of  their  friends  from  a  feigned  purgatory ; 
and  we  will  not  as  much  as  admonish  and  entreat  them, 
to  save  them  from  the  certain  flames  of  hell. 

4.  Another  hinderance  is,  a  base  man  pleasing  dispo- 
sition that  is  in  us.  We  are  so  loath  to  displease  men, 
and  so  desirous  to  keep  in  credit  and  favour  with  them, 
that  it  makes  us  neglect  our  own  duty.  A  foolish  phy- 
sician he  is,  and  a  most  unfaithful  friend,  that  will  let  a 
sick  man  die  for  feai  of  troubling  him.  And  cruel 
wretches  are  we  to  our  friends,  that  will  rather  suffer 
them  to  go  quickly  to  hell,  than  we  will  anger  them,  or 
hazard  our  reputation  v/ith  them.  If  they  did  but  fall 
in  a  swoon,  we  would  rub  them,  and  pinch  them,  and 
never  stick  at  hurting  them.  If  they  were  distracted, 
we  would  bind  them  with  chains,  and  we  would  please 
them  in  nothing  that  tended  to  their  hurt.  And  yet 
when  they  are  beside  themselves  in  point  of  salvation, 
and  in  their  madness  posting  on  to  damnation,  we  will 
not  stop  them,  for  fear  of  displeasing  them.  "  How 
can  those  men  be  Christians  that  love  the  praise  and  fa- 
vour of  men  more  than  the  favour  of  God  ?"  John  xii,  43. 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  181 

"For  if  they  yet  seek  to  please  men,  they  are  no  longer 
the  servants  of  Christ,"  Gal.  i,  10.  To  win  thein,  in- 
deed, they  must  become  all  things. to  all  men;  but  to 
please  them  to  their  destruction,  and  let  them  perish, 
that  we  may  keep  our  credit  with  them,  is  a  course  so 
base  and  barbarously  cruel  that  he  that  hath  the  face  of 
a  Christian  should  abhor  it. 

5.  Another  common  hinderance  is,  a  sinful  bashful- 
ness.  When  we  should  labour  to  make  men  ashamed 
of  their  sins,  we  are  ourselves  ashamed  of  our  duties. 
May  not  these  sinners  condemn  us,  when  they  will  not 
blush  to  swear  or  be  drunk,  and  we  blush  to  tell  them  of 
it,  and  persuade  them  from  it?  Sinners  will  boast  of 
their  sins,  and  show  them  in  the  open  streets;  and  shall 
not  we  be  as  bold  in  drawing  them  from  sin  ?  Not  that 
I  would  have  inferiors  forget  their  distance  in  admonish- 
ing their  superiors ;  but  do  it  with  all  humility,  and 
submission,  and  respect.  But  yet  I  would  much  less 
have  them  forget  their  duty  to  God  and  their  friends, 
be  they  never  so  much  their  superiors  :  it  is  a  thing  that 
must  be  done.  Bashfulness  is  unseemly  in  cases  of 
flat  necessity.  And  indeed  it  is  not  a  work  to  be 
ashamed  of:  to  obey  God  in  persuading  men  from  their 
sins  to  Christ,  and  helping  to  save  their  souls,  is  not  a 
business  for  a  man  to  blush  at.  Yet,  alas,  what  abun- 
dance of  souls  have  been  neglected  through  the  prevail- 
ing of  this  sin  !  Even  the  most  of  us  are  heinously 
guilty  in  this  point.  Reader,  is  not  this  thy  own  case  ? 
Hath  not  thy  conscience  told  thee  of  thy  duty  many  a 
time,  and  put  thee  on  to  speak  to  poor  sinners,  lest  they 
perish  ?  And  yet  thou  hast  been  ashamed  to  open  thy 
mouth  to  them,  and  so  let  them  alone  to  sink  or  swim  ; 
believe  me,  thou  wilt  ere  long  be  ashamed  of  this  shame. 
O  read  these  words  of  Christ,  and  tremble  :  "  He  that 
is  ashamed  of  me,  and  my  words,  before  this  adulterous 
generation,  of  him  will  the  Son  of  man  be  ashamed  be- 
fore his  Father  and  the  angels." 

6.  With  many,  also,  pride  is  a  great  impediment.  If 
it  were  to  speak  to  a  great  man,  they  would  do  it,  so  it 
would  not  displease  him.  But  to  go  among  a  company 
of  ignorant  beggars,  or  mean  persons,  and  to  sit  with 
them  in  a  smoky,  nasty  cottage,  and  there  to  exhort 


1S3  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

them  from  day  to  day ;  where  is  the  person  that  will  do 
it?  Many  will  much  rejoice  if  they  have  been  instru- 
ments of  converting  a  gentleman,  (and  they  have  good 
cause,)  but  for  the  common  multitude,  they  look  not 
alter  them  :  as  if  God  were  a  respecter  of  the  persons 
of  the  rich,  or  the  souls  of  all  were  not  alike  to  him. 
Alas,  these  men  little  consider  how  low  Christ  did  stoop 
to  us  !  When  the  God  of  glory  comes  down  in  flesh  to 
worms,  and  goeth  preaching  up  and  down  among  them 
from  city  to  city !  Not  the  silliest  woman  that  he 
thought  too  low  to  confer  with :  few  rich,  and  noble, 
and  wise,  are  called.  It  is  the  poor  that  receive  the 
glad  tidings  of  the  Gospel. 

Ohjcction.  O  but,  saith  one,  I  am  of  so  weak  parts 
that  I  am  unable  to  manage  an  exhortation  ;  especially 
to  men  of  strong  parts  and  understanding. 

I  answer,  1.  Set  those  upon  the  work  who  are  more 
able.  2.  Yet  do  not  think  that  thou  art  so  excused  thy- 
self, but  use  faithfully  that  ability  which  thou  hast ;  not 
in  teaching  those  of  whom  thou  shouldst  learn,  but  in 
instructing  those  that  arc  more  ignorant  than  thyself, 
and  in  exhorting  those  that  are  negligent  in  the  things 
which  they  do  know.  If  you  cannot  speak  well  your- 
self, yet  you  can  tell  them  what  God  speaketh  in  his 
word.  It  is  not  the  excellence  of  speech  that  winneth 
the  souls ;  but  the  authority  of  God  manifested  by  that 
speech,  and  the  power  of  his  word  in  the  mouth  of  the 
instructor.  A  weak  woman  may  tell  what  God  saith  in 
the  plain  passages  of  the  word,  as  well  as  a  learned  man. 
If  you  cannot  preach  to  them,  yet  you  can  say.  Thus  it 
is  written.  One  of  mean  parts  may  remember' the  wisest 
of  their  duty  when  they  forget  it. 

Objection.  It  is  my  superior  ;  and  is  it  fit  for  me  to 
teach  or  reprove  my  betters  ?  Must  the  wife  teach  tlie 
husband,  of  whom  the  Scripture  biddeth  them  to  learn? 
Or  must  the  child  teach  the  parents,  whose  duty  it  is  to 
teach  them  1 

I  answer,  1.  It  is  fit  that  husbands  should  be  able  to 
teach  their  wives,  and  parents  to  teach  their  children  ; 
and  God  expecteth  they  should  be  so,  and  therefore 
commandetli  the  inferiors  to  learn  of  them.  But  if  they, 
through  their  negligence,  disable  themselves,  or  through 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  183 

their  wickedness  bring  their  souls  into  such  misery, 
then  it  is  themselves,  and  not  you,  that  break  God's 
order,  by  bringing  themselves  into  disability  and 
misery. 

Matter  of  mere  orders  and  manners  must  be  dispensed 
with  in  cases  of  flat  necessity.  Though  it  were  your 
minister,  you  must  teach  him  in  such  a  case.  It  is  the 
part  of  parents  to  provide  for  their  children,  and  not 
children  for  their  parents  ;  and  yet  if  the  parents  fall 
into  want,  must  not  llie  children  relieve  them  ?  It  is 
the  part  of  the  husband  to  dispose  of  the  affairs  of  the 
family  and  estate  ;  and  yet  if  he  be  sick,  or  beside  him- 
self, must  not  the  wife  do  it  ?  The  rich  should  relieve 
the  poor  ;  but  if  the  rich  fall  into  beggary,  they  must  be 
relieved  themselves.  It  is  the  work  of  a  physician  to 
look  to  the  health  of  others  ;  and  yet  if  he  fall  sick, 
somebody  must  help  him.  So  must  the  meanest  servant 
admonish  his  master,  and  the  child  his  parent,  and  the 
wife  her  husband,  and  the  people  their  ministers,  in 
cases  of  necessity.  Yet,  secondly,  let  me  give  you  these 
two  cautions  here  : — 

1.  That  you  do  not  pretend  necessity  when  there  is 
none,  out  of  a  mere  desire  of  teaching.  There  is  scarce 
a  more  certain  discovery  of  a  proud  heart  than  to  be 
more  desirous  to  teach  than  to  learn  ;  especially  toward 
those  that  are  fitter  to  teach  us. 

2.  And  when  the  necessity  of  your  superiors  doth  call 
for  your  advice,  yet  do  it  with  all  possible  humility, 
modesty,  and  meekness.  Let  them  discern  your  reve- 
rence and  submission  in  the  humble  manner  of  your  ad- 
dresses to  them.  Let  them  perceive  that  you  do  it  not 
out  of  a  mere  teaching  humour,  or  proud  self-conceited- 
ness.  If  a  wife  should  tell  her  husband  of  sin  in  a  mas- 
terly railing  manner  ;  or  if  a  servant  reprove  his  mas- 
ter, or  a  child  his  father,  in  a  saucy  way,  what  good 
could  be  expected  from  such  reproof?  But  if  they 
should  meekly  and  humbly  open  to  him  his  sin  and  dan- 
ger, and  entreat  him  to  bear  with  them  in  what  God 
commandeth  ;  and  if  they  could  by  tears  testify  their 
sense  of  his  case  ;  what  father,  or  master,  or  husband, 
could  take  this  ill  ? 

Ohjection.  But,  some  may  say,  this  will  make  all  as 


184  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

preachers,  and  cause  all  to  break  over  the  bounds  of 
their  callings. 

I  answer,  1.  This  is  not  taking  a  pastoral  charge  of 
souls,  nor  making  an  office  or  calling  of  it,  as  preach- 
ers do. 

2.  And  in  the  way  of  our  callings,  every  good  Chris- 
tian is  a  teacher,  and  hath  a  charge  of  his  neighbour's 
soul.  Let  it  be  only  the  voice  of  a  Cain  to  say,  "  Am  I 
my  brother's  keeper  ?"  I  would  one  of  these  men  that 
are  so  loath  that  private  men  should  teach  them,  to  tell 
me,  what  if  a  man  fall  down  in  a  swoon  in  the  streets, 
though  it  be  your  father  or  superior,  would  you  not 
take  him  up  presently,  and  use  all  means  to  recover 
him  ?  Or  would  you  let  him  lie  and  die,  and  say.  It  is 
the  work  of  the  physician,  and  not  mine :  I  will  not  in- 
vade the  physician's  calling  ?  In  two  cases  every  man 
is  a  physician ;  first,  in  case  of  necessity,  and  when  a 
physician  cannot  be  had  ;  and  secondly,  in  case  the 
hurt  be  so  small,  that  every  man  can  do  as  well  as  the 
physician.  And  in  the  same  two  cases  every  man  must 
be  a  teacher. 

Objection.  Some  will  farther  object  to  put  off  this 
duty,  that  the  party  is  so  ignorant,  or  stupid,  or  care- 
less, or  rooted  in  sin,  and  hath  been  so  oft  exhorted  in 
vain,  that  there  is  no  hope. 

I  answer.  How  know  you  when  there  is  no  hope? 
Cannot  God  yet  cure  him  ?  And  have  not  many  as  far 
gone  been  cured?  Should  not  a  merciful  physician  use 
means  while  there  is  life  ?  And  is  it  not  inhuman  cru- 
elty in  you  to  give  up  your  friend  to  the  devil  as  hope- 
less, upon  mere  backwardness  to  your  duty,  or  upon 
groundless  discouragements  ?  What  if  you  had  been 
so  given  up  yourself  when  you  were  ignorant  ? 

Objection.  But  "we  must  not  cast  pearls  before 
swine,  nor  give  that  which  is  holy  to  dogs." 

I  answer,  That  is  but  a  favourable  dispensation  of 
Christ  for  your  own  safety.  When  you  are  in  danger 
of  being  torn  in  pieces,  Christ  would  have  you  forbear; 
but  what  is  that  to  you  that  are  in  no  such  danger? 
As  long  as  they  will  hear,  you  have  encouragement 
to  speak,  and  may  not  cast  them  off  as  contemptuous 
swine. 


185 

Objection.  O  but  it  is  a  friend  that  I  have  all  my 
dependence  on  ;  and  by  telling  him  of  his  sin  and  misery, 
I  may  lose  his  love,  and  so  be  undone. 

I  answer.  Sure  no  man  that  hath  the  face  of  a  Chris- 
tian will  for  shame  own  such  an  objection  as  this.  Yet, 
I  doubt,  it  oft  prevaileth  in  the  heart.  Is  his  love 
more  to  be  valued  than  his  safety  ?  Or  thy  own  benefit 
by  him  than  the  salvation  of  his  soul  ?  Or  wilt  thou 
connive  at  his  damnation,  because  he  is  thy  friend? 
Is  that  thy  best  requital  of  his  friendship?  Hadst 
thou  rather  he  should  burn  for  ever  in  hell,  than  thou 
shouldst  lose  his  favour,  or  the  maintenance  thou  hast 
from  him  ? 

To  conclude  this  use,  that  I  may  prevail  with  every 
soul  that  feareth  God,  to  use  their  utmost  diligence  to 
help  all  about  them  to  this  blessed  rest,  let  me  entreat 
you  to  consider  these  following  motives  : — 

1.  Consider,  Nature  teacheth  the  communicating  of 
good,  and  grace  doth  especially  dispose  the  soul  thereto; 
the  neglect  therefore  of  this  work,  is  a  sin  both  against 
nature  and  grace. 

Would  you  not  think  that  man  or  woman  unnatural, 
that  would  let  their  children  or  neighbours  famish  in  the 
streets,  while  they  have  provision  at  hand  ?  And  is  not 
he  more  unnatural  that  will  let  his  children  or  neigh- 
bours perish  eternally,  and  will  not  open  his  mouth  to 
save  them  ?  Certainly  this  is  most  barbarous  cruelty. 
We  account  an  unmerciful,  cruel  man,  a  very  monster, 
to  be  abhorred  of  all.  Many  vicious  men  are  too  much 
loved  in  the  world,  but  a  cruel  man  is  abhorred  of  all. 
Now  that  it  may  appear  to  you  what  a  cruel  thing  this 
neglect  of  souls  is,  do  but  consider  these  two  things  : 
First,  how  great  a  work  it  is.  Secondly,  how  small  a 
matter  it  is  that  thou  refusest  to  do  for  the  accomplish- 
ing so  great  a  work.  First,  it  is  to  save  thy  brother 
from  eternal  flames,  that  he  may  not  there  lie  roaring  in 
endless  remediless  torments.  It  is  to  bring  him  to  the 
everlasting  rest,  where  he  may  live  in  inconceivable 
happiness  with  God.  Secondly,  and  what  is  it  that  you 
should  do  to  help  him  herein  ?  Why,  it  is  to  persuade 
him,  and  lay  open  to  him  his  sin,  and  his  duty,  his 
misery,  and  the  remedy,  till  you  have  made  him  willing 


186  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

to  yield  to  the  offers  and  commands  of  Christ.  And  is 
this  so  great  a  matter  for  to  do,  to  the  attaining  such  a 
blessed  end  ?  Is  not  the  soul  of  a  husband,  or  wife,  or 
child,  or  neighbour,  worth  a  few  words  ?  It  is  worth 
this,  or  it  is  worth  nothing.  If  they  lie  dying  in  the 
streets,  and  a  few  words  would  save  their  lives,  would 
not  every  man  say,  he  was  a  cruel  wretch  that  would  let 
them  perish  rather  than  speak  to  them?  Even  the 
covetous  hypocrite  that  James  reproveth,  would  give  a 
few  words  to  the  poor,  and  say,  "  Go  and  be  warmed, 
and  be  clothed."  What  a  barbarous,  unmerciful  wretch 
then  art  thou,  that  wilt  not  vouchsafe  a  few  words  of 
serious,  sober  admonition,  to  save  the  soul  of  thy 
neighbour  or  friend !  Cruelty  and  unmercifulness  to 
men's  bodies,  is  a  most  damnable  sin ;  but  to  their 
souls  much  more,  as  the  soul  is  of  greater  worth  than 
the  body,  and  as  eternity  is  of  greater  moment  than 
this  short  time. 

Alas !  you  do  not  see  or  feel  what  case  their  souls 
are  in  when  they  are  in  hell,  for  want  of  your  faithful 
admonition.  Little  know  you  what  many  a  soul  may 
now  be  feeling,  who  have  been  your  neighbours  and 
acquaintance,  and  died  in  their  sins,  on  whom  you  never 
bestowed  one  hour's  sober  advice  for  preven^ting  their 
unhappiness.  If  you  knew  their  misery,  you  would 
now  do  more  to  bring  them  out  of  hell ;  but,  alas  !  it  is 
too  late,  you  should  have  done  it  while  they  were  with 
you  ;  it  is  now  too  late.  As  one  said  of  physicians, 
"  That  they  were  the  most  happy  men,  because  all  their 
good  deeds  and  cures  were  seen  above  ground  to  their 
praise,  but  all  their  mistakes  and  neglects  were  buried 
out  of  sight ;"  so  I  may  say  to  you.  Many  a  neglect  of 
yours  to  the  souls  about  you,  may  be  now  buried  with 
those  souls  in  hell,  out  of  your  sight,  and  therefore  now 
it  doth  not  much  trouble  you ;  but,  alas  !  they  feel  it, 
though  you  feel  it  not.  Jeremiah  cried  out,  "  My 
bowels,  my  bowels,  I  cannot  hold  my  peace,"  because 
of  a  temporal  destruction  of  his  people  :  and  do  not 
our  bowels  yearn  ?  And  can  we  hold  our  peace  at  men's 
eternal  destruction  ? 

2.  Consider,  What  a  rate  Christ  did  value  souls  at, 
and  what  he  hath  done  toward  the  saving  of  them  ;  he 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  187 

thought  them  worth  his  blood,  and  shall  not  we  think 
them  worth  the  breath  of  our  mouths  ?  Will  you  not 
do  a  little  where  he  hath  done  so  much  ^ 

3.  Consider,  What  a  deal  of  guilt  this  neglect  doth 
lay  upon  thy  soul.  First,  thou  art  guilty  of  the  murder 
and  damnation  of  all  those  souls  whom  thou  dost  neglect. 
He  that  standeth  by,  and  seeth  a  man  in  a  pit,  and  will 
not  pull  him  out  if  he  can,  doth  drown  him.  And  he 
that  standeth  by,  while  thieves  rob  him,  or  murderers 
kill  him,  and  will  not  help  him  if  he  can,  is  accessory 
to  the  fact.  And  so  he  that  will  silently  suffer  men  to 
damn  their  souls,  or  will  let  Satan  and  the  world  deceive 
them,  and  not  offer  to  help  them,  will  certainly  be  judged 
guilty  of  damning  them.  And  is  not  this  a  most  dread- 
ful consideration  ?  O,  sirs,  how  many  souls  then  have 
every  one  of  us  been  guilty  of  damning  !  what  a  number 
of  our  neighbours  and  acquaintance  are  dead,  in  whom 
we  discerned  no  signs  of  sanctification,  and  we  never 
once  plainly  told  them  of  it,  or  how  to  be  recovered ! 
If  you  had  been  the  cause  but  of  burning  a  man's  house 
through  your  negligence,  or  of  undoing  him,  or  destroy- 
ing his  body,  how  would  it  trouble  you  as  long  as  you 
lived  ?  If  you  had  but  killed  a  man  unadvisedly,  it 
would  much  disquiet  you.  We  have  known  those  that 
have  been  guilty  of  murder,  that  could  never  sleep 
quietly  after,  nor  have  one  comfortable  day,  their  own 
consciences  did  so  vex  and  torment  them.  O  what  a 
heart  must  thou  have,  that  hast  been  guilty  of  murdering 
such  a  multitude  of  precious  souls  !  Remember  this, 
when  thou  lookest  thy  friend  or  carnal  neighbour  in  the 
face  ;  and  think  with  thyself.  Can  I  find  in  my  heart, 
through  my  silence  and  negligence,  to  be  guilty  of  his 
everlasting  burning  in  hell  ?  Methinks  such  a  thought 
should  even  untie  the  tongue  of  the  dumb. 

Secondly.  And  as  you  are  guilty  of  their  perishing, 
so  are  you  of  every  sin  which  in  the  meantime  they 
commit.  If  they  were  converted,  they  would  break  off 
their  course  of  sinning  :  and  if  you  did  your  duty,  you 
know  not  but  they  might  be  converted.  As  he  that  is 
guilty  of  a  man's  drunkenness,  is  guilty  of  all  the  sins 
which  that  drunkenness  doth  cause  him  to  commit :  so 
he  that  is  guilty  of  a  man's  continuing  unregenerate,  is 


18^  THE  SAINTS*  EVERLASTING  REST. 

also  guilty  of  the  sins  of  his  unregeneracy.  How  many 
curses  and  oaths,  and  other  sins  of  a  most  heinous 
nature,  are  many  of  you  guilty  of  that  little  think  of  it  ? 
You  that  take  much  pains  for  your  own  souls,  and  seem 
fearful  of  sinning,  would  take  it  ill  of  one  that  should 
tell  you  that  you  are  guilty  of  weekly,  or  daily  whore- 
doms, and  drunkenness,  and  swearing,  and  lying.  And 
yet  it  is  too  true,  even  beyond  all  denial,  by  your  neglect 
of  helping  those  who  do  commit  them. 

Thirdly.  You  are  guilty  also  of  all  those  judgments 
which  those  men's  sins  bring  upon  the  town  or  country 
where  they  live.  I  know  you  are  not  such  atheists,  but 
you  believe  it  is  God  that  sendeth  sickness,  and  famine, 
|nd  war  ;  and  also  that  it  is  only  sin  that  moveth  him  to 
the  r     '^i^sition.    What  doubt  then  is  there,  but  you  are 

I.-  i>  ^judgments,  who  do  not  strive  against  those 
sms  which  CL-*     \-,        >  Vi    j  i,  *i,    ^       ji         • 
+/^  ^«« -r  isethemf  Uod  hath  stayed  long  m  patience 

to  see  11  any  a\      u  j     i    i  •  i        -.i:  ^t       •  r  ii. 

times,  and  so  tft"''^.^^^?'  P'^'^'y  'V'V'  !J,""'"'^°^  *t 

when  he  secth  tha.'^*"■  r"  ^°"'f  ^'Tk       ^u'lt:  but 

no  wonder  then  if  tT  ''.  "°1'=' ''"'  ""  become  guilty, 

have  all  seen  the  drun^^  !''<'  ■"",'1'"'°,'.?°"  ■'' 

^„^  ^. ,  1  iards,  and  heard  the  swearers  m 

our  streets,  and  we  woui;;     \  i    ^    ^i.  i, 

all  lived  in  the  midst  0?  ""'.^P'^^''    «  *«"}  =  ^^«  l^]^ 

people,  and  we  have  not/^  ^"  ^f  r"  '  T  5^'  "?  '^ 
plainness,  and  love:  „f  ^Poke  to  them  with  earnestness, 

his  wrath,  both  to  then'°  'r"'''''^','!^".  j*^  ^°^  'P'*^^ 
sin  himself,  and  yet  r''  ^""^  T  ,,^^'  "^  i"j?'  commit  the 
that  he  must  bear  the"'=  «Pf  l'^*  ^"^"^^^,"^,1^' 
clouds,  because  ,^p- Punishment.     God  locketh  up  the 

earth  is  grown  as  ?  ^^^  ?  "'  ."^  ""v  """''"•  7^* 
hardened  our  he.  "''"^  ?'  """  *°  •?"'  bef«se  we  have 
The  cries  of  ''  '^'''^  against  our  miserable  neighbours. 
<.r;o=  <,„oi„^(  Jhe  poor  for  bread  are  loud,  because  our 
apace  from  house  t""^  ^^^^  '^  1^^'  Sicknesses  run 
unprepared  inhabitan-;^^"'^'  '^""^  '^^^P  ^^^7  ^he  poor 
sin  that  breedeth  thf  ^^^''  ^/^^"'^.  ^^  fffP*  ^^1^"*  ^^^ 
Luke  xix    SO    '^  T^  ^"^*  t^hrist  said  in  another  case, 

stones  would  sry^'"}  ^}}^^^  1^^^^^  hold  their  peace,  the 
the    iffnorar   "^r*^^^  •     s^»  because  we  held  our  peace  at 
places  i^  -"^^^^j    ungodliness,    and   wickedness    of    our 
^    -'-siderefore  do  these  plagues  and  judgments  speak. 
•Consider,  what  a  thing  it  will  be,  to  look  upon 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  189 

your  poor  friends  in  those  flames,  and  to  think  that  your 
neglect  was  a  great  cause  of  it !  And  that  there  was  a 
time  when  you  might  have  done  much  to  prevent  it. 
If  you  should  there  perish  with  them,  it  would  be  no 
small  aggravation  of  your  torment !  If  you  be  in 
heaven,  it  would  sure  be  a  sad  thought,  were  it  possible 
that  any  sorrow  could  dwell  there,  to  hear  a  multitude 
of  poor  souls  there  to  cry  out  for  ever:  O  if  you 
would  but  have  told  me  plainly  of  my  sin  and  danger, 
and  dealt  roundly  with  me,  I  might  have  escaped  all 
this  torment,  and  been  now  in  rest !  O  what  a  sad  voice 
will  this  be ! 

5.  Consider,  how  diligent  are  the  enemies  of  these 
poor  souls  to  draw  them  to  hell.  And  if  nobody  be 
diligent  in  helping  them  to  heaven,  what  is  like  to  be- 
come of  them  ?  The  devil  is  tempting  them  day  and 
night:  their  inward  lusts  are  still  working  and  with* 
drawing  them  :  the  flesh  is  still  pleading  for  its  delights 
and  profits  :  their  old  companions  are  ready  to  entice 
them  to  sin,  and  to  disgrace  God's  ways  and  people  to 
them,  and  to  contradict  the  doctrine  of  Christ  that 
should  save  them,  and  to  increase  their  dislike  of  holi- 
ness. Seducing  teachers  are  exceeding  diligent  in  sow- 
ing tares,  and  drawing  oft*  the  unstable  from  the  way  to 
life  :  and  shall  a  seducer  be  so  unwearied  in  proselyt- 
ing poor  unguarded  souls  to  his  fancies?  And  shall 
not  a  sound  Christian  be  much  more  unwearied  in  la 
bouring  to  win  men  to  Christ  and  life  ? 

6.  Consider,  the  neglect  of  this  doth  very  deeply 
wound  when  conscience  is  awakened.  When  a  man 
comes  to  die  conscience  will  ask  him.  What  good  hast 
thou  done  in  thy  lifetime  ?  The  saving  of  souls  is  the 
greatest  good  ;  what  hast  thou  done  toward  this  ?  How 
many  hast  thou  dealt  faithfully  with  ?  I  have  oft  ob- 
served that  the  consciences  of  dying  men  very  much 
wound  them  for  this  omission.  For  my  own  part,  (to 
tell  you  my  experience,)  xvhenever  I  have  been  near 
death  my  conscience  hath  accused  me  more  for  this 
than  for  any  sin  :  it  would  bring  every  ignorant,  pro- 
fane neighbour  to  my  remembrance,  to  whom  I  never 
made  known  their  danger :  it  would  tell  me.  Thou 
shouldst  have  gone  to  them  in  private,  and  told  them 


190  THE   SAINTS-    EVERLASTING  REST. 

plainly  of  their  desperate  danger,  without  bashfulness 
or  daubing,  though  it  had  been  when  thou  shouldst 
have  eaten  or  slept,  if  thou  hadst  no  other  time  :  con- 
science would  remember  me  how  at  such. a  time  or  such 
a  time  I  was  in  company  with  the  ignorant,  or  was 
riding  by  the  way  with  a  wilful  sinner,  and  had  a  fit 
opportunity  to  have  dealt  with  him,  but  did  not ;  or  at 
least  did  it  by  halves,  and  to  little  purpose.  The  Lord 
grant  I  may  better  obey  conscience  hereafter,  while  I 
live  and  have  time,  that  it  may  have  less  to  accuse  me 
of  at  death ! 

7.  Consider,  lastly,  the  happy  consequences  of  this 
work,  where  it  is  faithfully  done.     To  name  some  : — 

1.  You  may  be  instrumental  in  that  blessed  work  of 
saving  souls,  a  work  that  Christ  came  down  and  died 
for,  a  work  that  the  angels  of  God  rejoice  in  :  for,  saith 
the  Holy  Ghost,  "  If  any  of  you  do  err  from  the  truth, 
and  one  convert  him,  let  him  know  that  he  which  con- 
verteth  the  sinner  from  the  error  of  his  way  shall  save 
a  soul  from  death,  and  shall  hide  a  multitude  of  sins," 
James  v,  19,  20.  And  how  can  God  more  highly  ho- 
nour you  than  to  make  you  instruments  in  so  great  a 
work? 

2.  Such  souls  will  bless  you  here  and  hereafter. 
They  may  be  angry  with  you  at  first ;  but  if  your 
words  succeed,  they  will  bless  the  day  that  ever  they 
knew  you,  and  bless  God  that  sent  you  to  speak  to 
them. 

3.  It  bringeth  much  advantage  to  yourselves :  First,  it 
will  increase  your  graces,  both  as  it  is  a  course  that 
God  will  bless,  and  as  it  is  an  acting  of  them  in  this 
persuading  of  others :  he  that  will  not  let  you  lose  a 
cup  of  water  which  is  given  for  him  will  not  let  you 
lose  these  greater  works  of  charity ;  besides,  those  who 
have  practised  this  duty  must  find  by  experience  that 
they  never  go  on  more  prosperously  toward  heaven 
than  when  they  do  mo^  to  help  others  thither  with 
them.  It  is  not  here  as  with  worldly  treasure,  the  more 
you  give  away  the  less  you  have  :  but  the  more  you 
give  the  more  you  have  ;  the  setting  forth  Christ  in  his 
fulness  to  others  will  warm  your  own  hearts  ;  the  open- 
ing the  evil  and  danger  of  sin  to  others  will  increase 


THE   saints'   everlasting  REST.  191 

your  hatred  of  it.  Secondly,  it  will  increase  your  glory 
as  well  as  your  grace,  both  as  a  duty  which  God  will 
reward,  ("For  they  that  convert  many  to  righteousness 
shall  shine  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever,")  Dan.  xii, 
3,  and  also  as  we  shall  there  behold  them  in  heaven,  and 
be  their  associates  in  blessedness,  whom  God  made  us 
the  instruments  here  to  convert.  Thirdly,  however,  it 
will  give  as  much  peace  of  conscience,  whether  we 
succeed  or  not,  to  think  that  we  were  faithful  and 
did  our  best  to  save  them,  and  that  we  are  clear  from 
the  blood  of  all  men.  Fourthly,  besides  that  is  a  work 
that,  if  it  succeed,  doth  exceedingly  rejoice  an  honest 
heart :  he  that  hath  any  sense  of  God's  honour,  or  the 
least  ajffection  to  the  soul  of  his  brother,  must  needs  re- 
joice much  at  his  conversion,  whosoever  be  the  instru- 
ment, but  especially  when  God  maketh  ourselves  the 
means  of  so  blessed  a  work. 

For  my  own  part,  it  is  an  unspeakable  comfort  to  me 
that  God  hath  made  me  an  instrument  for  the  recover- 
ing of  so  many  from  bodily  diseases,  and  saving  their 
natural  lives :  but  all  this  is  nothing  to  the  comfort  I 
have  in  the  success  of  my  labours  in  the  conversion  and 
confirmation  of  souls ;  it  is  so  great  a  joy  to  me  that  it 
drowne4;h  the  painfulness  of  my  daily  duties,  and  the 
trouble  of  my  daily  languishing  and  bodily  griefs  :  and 
maketh  all  these,  with  all  oppositions  and  difficulties  in 
my  work,  to  be  easy :  and  of  all  the  personal  mercies 
that  ever  I  received,  next  to  his  love  in  Christ  to  my 
soul,  I  most  joyfully  bless  him  for  the  plenteous  success 
of  my  endeavours  upon  others.  O  what  fruits  then 
might  I  have  seen  if  I  had  been  more  faithful,  and  plied 
the  work  in  private  and  public  as  I  ought !  I  know 
we  have  need  to  be  very  jealous  of  our  deceitful  hearts 
in  this  point,  lest  our  rejoicing  should  come  from  our 
pride.  Naturally,  we  would  every  man  be  in  the  place 
of  God,  and  have  the  praise  of  every  good  work  ascrib- 
ed to  ourselves :  but  yet  to  imitate  our  Father  in  good- 
ness, and  to  rejoice  in  that  degree  we  attain  to,  is  the 
part  of  every  child  of  God.  I  tell  you,  therefore,  to 
persuade  you  from  my  own  experience,  that  if  you  did 
but  know  what  a  joyful  thing  it  is  to  be  an  instrument 
for  the  saving  of  souls,  you  would  set  upon  i«.  presently, 


192  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

and  follow  it  night  and  day  through  the  greatest  dis- 
couragements and  resistance. 

And  thus  I  have  showed  you  what  should  persuade 
you  to  this  duty.  Let  me  now  conclude  with  a  word 
of  entreaty ;  First,  to  all  the  godly  in  general.  Se- 
condly, to  some  above  others  in  particular. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

AN    ADVICE    TO    SOME    MORE    PARTICULARLY  TO    HELP    OTHERS    TO 
THIS    REST. 

Up  then  every  man  that  hath  a  tongue,  and  is  a  ser- 
vant of  Christ,  and  do  something  of  this  your  Master's 
work.  Why  hath  he  given  you  a  tongue,  but  to  speak 
in  his  service  ?  And  how  can  you  serve  him  more  emi- 
nently than  in  the  saving  of  souls  ?  He  that  will  pro- 
nounce you  blessed  at  the  last  day,  and  sentence  you  to 
the  kingdom  prepared  for  you  because  you  fed  him, 
and  clothed  him,  and  visited  him  in  his  members,  will 
surely  pronounce  you  blessed  for  so  great  a  work  as 
the  bringing  over  of  souls  to  his  kingdom.  He  that 
saith,  "  The  poor  you  have  always  with  you,"  hath  left 
the  ungodly  always  with  you  that  you  might  still  have 
matter  to  exercise  your  charity  upon.  O  if  you  have 
the  hearts  of  Christians,  or  of  men,  in  you,  let  them 
yearn  toward  your  poor,  ignorant,  ungodly  neighbours  ! 
Alas,  there  is  but  a  step  betwixt  them  and  death  and 
hell ;  many  hundred  diseases  are  waiting  ready  to  seize 
them,  and  if  they  die  unregenerate  they  are  lost  for  ever. 
Have  you  hearts  of  rock  that  cannot  pity  men  in  such  a 
case  ?  If  you  believe  not  the  word  of  God  how  are  you 
Christians  yourselves  ?  If  you  do  but  believe  it  why  do 
you  not  bestir  you  to  help  others  ?  Do  you  not  care 
who  is  damned  so  you  be  saved  ?  If  so,  you  have  as 
much  cause  to  pity  your  ownselves,  for  it  is  a  frame 
of  spirit  inconsistent  with  grace  :  should  you  not  rather 
say,  as  the  lepers  of  Samaria,  "  Is  it  not  a  day  of  glad 
tidings,  and  we  sit  still  and  hold  our  peace  ?"  Hath  God 
had  so  much  mercy  upon  you,  and  will  you  have  no 
mercy  on  your  poor  neighbours  ?     You  need  not  go  far 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  193 

to  find  objects  for  your  pity  :  look  but  into  the  streets, 
or  into  the  next  house  to  you,  and  you  will  probably 
find  some.  Have  you  not  a  neighbour  that  sets  his 
heart  below,  and  neglecteth  eternity?  What  blessed 
place  do  you  live  in  where  there  is  none  such  ?  If 
there  be  not  some  of  them  in  thine  own  family  it  is 
well ;  and  yet  art  thou  silent  ?  Dost  thou  live  close  by 
them,  or  meet  them  in  the  streets,  or  labour  Avith  them, 
or  travel  with  them,  or  sit  still  and  talk  with  them,  and 
say  nothing  to  them  of  their  souls,  or  the  life  to  come  ? 
If  their  houses  were  on  fire  thou  wouldst  run  and  help 
them  :  and  wilt  thou  not  help  them  when  their  souls 
are  almost  at  the  fire  of  hell  ?  If  thou  knowest  but  a 
remedy  for  their  diseases  thou  wouldst  tell  it  them,  or 
else  thou  wouldst  judge  thyself  guilty  of  their  death. 
Cardan  speaks  of  one  that  had  a  recipe  that  would  dis- 
solve the  stone  in  the  bladder,  and  he  makes  no  doubt 
but  that  man  is  in  hell,  because  he  never  revealed  it  to 
any  before  he  died  •  what  shall  we  say  then  of  them 
that  know  the  remedy  for  curing  souls  and  do  not  re- 
veal it,  nor  persuade  men  to  make  use  of  it?  Is  it  not 
hypocrisy  to  pray  "  that  God's  name  may  be  hallowed," 
and  never  endeavour  to  bring  men  to  hallow  it?  And 
can  you  pray,  "'  Let  thy  kingdom  come,"  and  yet  never 
labour  for  the  coming  or  increase  of  that  kingdom  ?  Is 
it  not  grief  to  your  hearts  to  see  the  kingdom  of  Satan 
flourish,  and  to  see  him  lead  captive  such  a  multitude 
of  souls  ?  You  say  you  are  soldiers  of  Christ :  and 
will  you  do  nothing  against  his  prevailing  enemies? 
You  pray  also  daily  "  that  his  will  may  be  done  ;"  and 
should  you  not  daily  then  persuade  men  to  doit?  You 
pray  "  that  God  would  forgive  them  their  sins,  and  that 
he  would  not  lead  them  into  temptation,  but  deliver 
them  from  evil ;"  and  yet  will  you  not  help  them 
against  temptations,  nor  help  to  deliver  them  from 
the  greatest  evil,  nor  help  them  to  repent  and  believe 
that  they  may  be  forgiven  ?  Alas,  that  your  prayers 
and  your  practice  should  so  much  disagree  !  Look 
about  you,  therefore,  Christians,  with  an  eye  of  com- 
passion on  the  sinners  about  you  ;  be  not  like  the 
priest  or  Levite  that  saw  the  man  wounded,  and  passed 
bv,  God  did  not  so  pass  bv  you  when  it  was  vour  own 

9 


104  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

case.  Are  not  the  souls  of  your  neighbours  fallen  into 
the  hands  of  Satan  ?  Doth  not  their  misery  cry  out  to 
you,  Help,  help  !  As  you  have  any  compassion  toward 
men  in  the  greatest  misery,  help  !  As  you  have  the 
hearts  of  men,  and  not  of  tigers,  in  you,  help ! 

But  as  this  duty  lieth  upon  all  in  general,  so  upon 
some  more  especially,  according  as  God  hath  called  or 
qualified  them  thereto.  To  them,  therefore,  more  par- 
ticularly, I  will  address  my  exhortation  :  whether  they 
be  such  as  have  more  opportunity  and  advantages  for 
this  work,  or  such  as  have  better  abilities  to  perform  it. 

1.  Ail  you  that  God  hath  given  more  learning  and 
knowledge  to,  or  endued  with  better  utterance  than 
your  neighbours,  God  expecteth  this  duty  especially  at 
your  hand.  The  strong  are  made  to  help  the  weak, 
and  those  that  see  must  direct  the  blind.  God  looketh 
for  this  faithful  improvement  of  your  parts  and  gifts, 
which,  if  you  neglect,  it  were  better  for  you  that  you 
never  had  received  them  :  for  they  will  but  farther  your 
condemnation,  and  be  as  useless  to  your  own  salvation 
as  they  are  to  others. 

3.  All  those  that  have  especial  familiarity  with  some 
ungodly  men,  and  that  have  interest  in  them,  God  looks 
for  this  duty  at  their  hands.  Christ  himself  did  eat  and 
drink  with  the  publicans  and  sinners,  but  it  was  only  to 
be  their  physician,  and  not  their  companion.  God  might 
give  you  interest  in  them  to  this  end,  that  you  might  be 
a  means  of  their  recovery.  They  that  will  not  regard 
the  words  of  another,  will  regard  a  brother,  or  sister, 
01  husband,  or  wife,  or  near  friend  :  beside  that,  the 
bond  of  friendship  doth  engage  you  to  more  kindness 
and  compassion. 

3.  Physicians  that  are  much  about  dying  men  should 
in  a  special  manner  make  a  conscience  of  this  duty : 
they  have  a  treble  adva^itage.  First,  they  are  at  hand. 
Secondly,  they  are  with  men  in  sickness  and  dangers, 
Vv'hen  the  ear  is  more  open,  and  the  heart  less  stubborn 
tiian  in  time  of  health.  He  that  made  a  scorn  of  god- 
liness before,  will  hear  counsel  then,  if  ever  he  will 
hear  it.  Thirdly,  besides,  they  look  upon  their  physi- 
cian as  a  man  in  whose  hand  is  their  life:  or  who  at 
least  may  do  much  to  save  them,  and  therefore  they  will 


THE  saints'  everlasting  REST.  19$ 

the  more  regard  his  advice.  Therefore  you  that  are  of 
this  honourable  profession,  do  not  think  this  a  work 
beside  your  calling,  as  if  it  belonged  to  none  but  minis- 
ters :  except  you  think  it  beside  your  calling  to  be  com- 
passionate, or  to  be  Christians.  Help  to  fit  your  pa- 
tients for  heaven,  and  whether  you  see  they  are  for  life 
or  death,  teach  them  both  how  to  live  and  how  to  die, 
and  give  them  some  physic  for  their  souls,  as  you  do  for 
their  bodies.  Blessed  be  God  that  very  many  of  the 
chief  physicians  of  this  age  have,  by  their  eminent 
piety,  vindicated  their  profession  from  the  common 
imputation  of  atheism  and  profaneness. 

4.  Another  sort  that  have  excellent  advantage  for  this 
duty,  are  men  that  have  wealth  and  authority,  and  are 
of  great  place  or  command  in  the  world,  especially  that 
have  many  who  live  in  dependence  on  them.  O  what  a 
world  of  good  might  gentlemen  and  lords  do  that  have 
a  great  many  tenants,  and  that  are  the  leaders  of  the 
country,  if  they  had  but  hearts  to  improve  their  interest 
and  advantage  !  Little  do  you  that  are  such,  think  of 
the  duty  that  lies  upon  you  in  this.  Have  you  not  all 
honour  and  riches  from  God  ?  Is  it  not  evident  then 
that  you  must  employ  them  for  the  advantage  of  his 
service  ?  Do  you  not  know  who  hath  said,  "  That  to 
whom  men  commit  much,  from  them  they  will  expect 
the  more  ?" 

You  have  the  greatest  opportunities  to  do  good,  of 
most  men  in  the  world.  Your  tenants  dare  not  contra- 
dict you,  lest  you  dispossess  them  or  their  children  of 
their  habitations  :  they  fear  you  more  than  the  threaten- 
ings  of  the  Scriptures  ;  they  will  sooner  obey  you  than 
God.  If  you  speak  to  them  of  God  and  their  souls,  you 
may  be  regarded  when  even  a  minister  shall  be  despised. 
O,  therefore,  as  you  value  the  honour  of  God,  your  own 
comfort,  and  the  salvation  of  souls,  improve  your  in- 
terest to  the  utmost  for  God.  Go  visit  your  tenants*  ' 
and  neighbours'  houses,  and  see  whether  they  worship 
Go  .1  in  their  families,  and  take  all  opportunities  to  press 
them  to  their  duties.  Do  not  despise  them  because 
they  are  poor  or  simple.  Remember,  God  is  no  respec- 
ter of  persons  ;  your  flesh  is  of  no  better  metal  than 
theirs ;  nor  will  the  worms  spare  your  faces  or  hearts 


196  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

any  more  than  theirs ;  nor  will  your  bones  or  dust  bear 
the  badge  of  your  gentility  :  you  must  be  all  equals  when 
you  stand  in  judgment ;  and  therefore  help  the  soul  of 
a  poor  man,  as  well  as  if  he  were  a  gentleman :  and  let 
men  see  that  you  excel  others  as  much  in  piety,  heaven- 
liness,  compassion,  and  diligence  in  God's  work,  as  you 
do  in  riches  and  honour. 

I  confess  you  are  like  to  be  singular  if  you  take 
this  course  ;  but  then  remember,  you  shall  be  singular 
in  glory,  for  "  few  great,  and  mighty,  and  noble  are 
called." 

5.  Another  sort  that  have  special  opportunity  to  help 
others  to  heaven,  are  the  ministers  of  the  Gospel :  as 
they  have,  or  should  have,  more  ability  than  others,  so 
it  is  the  very  work  of  their  calling  ;  and  every  one  ex- 
pecteth  it  at  their  hands,  and  will  better  submit  to  their 
teachers  than  to  others.  I  intend  not  these  instructions 
so  much  to  teachers,  as  to  others,  and  therefore  I  shall 
say  but  little  to  them ;  and  if  all,  or  most  ministers 
among  us,  were  as  faithful  and  diligent  as  some,  I  would 
say  nothing.  But  because  it  is  otherwise,  let  me  give 
these  two  or  three  words  of  advice  to  my  brethren  in 
this  office. 

1.  Be  sure  that  the  recovering  and  saving  souls  be 
the  main  end  of  your  studies  and  preaching.  O  do  not 
propound  any  low  and  base  ends  to  yourselves.  This 
is  the  end  of  your  calling,  let  it  be  also  the  end  of  your 
endeavours.  God  forbid  that  you  should  spend  a  week's 
study  to  please  the  people,  or  to  seek  the  advancing 
your  own  reputations.  Dare  you  appear  in  the  pulpit 
on  such  a  business,  and  speak  for  yourselves,  when  you 
are  sent  and  pretend  to  speak  for  Christ  ?  Set  out  the 
work  of  God  as  skilfully  as  you  can ;  but  still  let  the 
winning  of  souls  be  your  end,  and  always  judge  that 
the  best  means  that  most  conduceth  to  the  end.  Do  not 
think  that  God  is  best  served  by  a  neat,  starched  oration ; 
but  that  he  is  the  able,  skilful  minister  that  is  best 
skilled  in  the  art  of  instructing,  convincing,  persuading, 
and  that  is  the  best  sermon  that  is  best  in  these.  Let 
the  vigour  also  of  your  persuasions  show  that  you  are 
sensible  on  how  weighty  a  business  you  are  sent. 
Preach  with  that  seriousness  and  fervour  ,as  men  that 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  197 

believe  their  own  doctrine,  and  know  their  hearers  must 
either  be  prevailed  with  or  be  damned.  What  you  would 
do  to  save  them  from  everlasting  burning,  that  do  while 
you  have  the  opportunity;  and  price  in  your  hand,  that 
people  may  discern  you  mean  as  you  speak  ;  and  that 
you  are  not  stage-players,  but  preachers  of  the  doctrine 
of  salvation.  Remember  what  Cicero  saith,  "  That  if 
the  matter  be  never  so  combustible,  yet  if  you  put  not 
fire  to  it,  it  will  not  burn."  And  what  Erasmus  saith, 
"  That  a  hot  iron  will  pierce  when  a  cold  one  will  not." 
And  if  the  wise  men  of  the  world  account  you  mad,  say 
as  Paul,  "  If  we  are  beside  ourselves,  it  is  to  God  :" 
and  remehiber  that  Christ  was  so  busy  in  doing  of  good 
that  his  friends  themselves  began  to  lay  hands  on  him, 
thinking  he  had  been  beside  himself,  Mark  iii. 

2.  The  second  and  chief  word  of  advice  that  I  would 
give  you,  is  this  :  do  not  think  that  all  your  work  is  in 
studies,  and  in  the  pulpit.  I  confess  that  is  great :  but, 
alas  !  it  is  but  a  small  part  of  your  task.  You  are  shep- 
herds, and  must  know  every  sheep,  and  what  is  their 
disease,  and  mark  their  strayings,  and  help  to  cure  them, 
and  fetch  them  home. 

O  learn  of  Paul,  Acts  xx,  19,  20,  31,  to  preach  pub- 
licly, and  from  house  to  house,  night  and  day,  with  tears. 
Let  there  not  be  a  soul  in  your  charge  that  shall  not  be 
particularly  instructed  and  watched  over.  Go  from 
house  to  house  daily,  and  inquire  how  they  grow  in 
knowledge  and  holiness,  and  on  what  grounds  they  build 
their  hopes  of  salvation ;  and  whether  they  walk  up- 
rightly and  perform  the  duties  of  their  several  relations, 
and  use  the  means  to  increase  their  abilities.  See 
whether  they  daily  worship  God  in  their  families,  and 
set  them  in  a  way,  and  teach  them  how  to  do  it :  confer 
with  them  about  the  doctrines  and  practice  of  religion, 
and  how  they  receive  and  profit  by  public  teaching,  and 
answer  all  their  carnal  objections  ;  keep  in  familiarity 
with  them  that  you  may  maintain  your  interest  in  them, 
and  improve  all  your  interest  for  God.  See  that  no 
seducers  creep  in  among  them,  or  if  they  do,  be  dili- 
gent to  countermine  them,  and  preserve  your  people 
from  the  infection  of  heresies  and  schisms ;  or  if  they 
be  infected,  be  diligent  to  procure  their  recovery;  not 


198 

with  passion  and  lordliness,  but  with  patience  and  con- 
descension :  as  Masculus  did  by  the  Anabaptists,  visit- 
ing^ them  in  prison,  where  the  magistrate  had  cast  them, 
and  there  instructing  and  relieving  them ;  and  though 
they  reviled  him  when  he  came,  and  called  him  a  false 
prophet,  and  antichristian  seducer  that  thirsted  for  their 
blood,  yet  he  would  not  so  leave  them,  till  at  last  by 
his  meekness  and  love  he  had  overcome  them,  and 
recovered  many  to  the  truth,  and  to  unity  with  the 
Church. 

If  any  be  "  weak  in  the  faith,  receive  him,  but  not 
to  doubtful  disputation."  If  any  be  too  careless  of 
their  duties,  and  too  little  savour  the  things  of  the  Spirit, 
let  them  be  pitied,  and  not  neglected  :  if  any  walk  scan* 
dalously  and  disorderly,  deal  with  them  for  their  re- 
covery, with  all  diligence  and  patience,  and  set  before 
them  the  heinousness  and  danger  of  their  sin  :  if  they 
prove  obstinate,  after  all,  then  avoid  them,  and  cast 
them  off:  if  they  be  ignorant,  it  may  be  your  fault  as 
well  as  theirs  ;  but,  however,  they  are  fitter  to  be  in- 
structed than  rejected,  except  they  absolutely  refuse  to 
be  taught.  Christ  will  give  you  no  thanks  for  keeping 
or  putting  out  such  from  his  school  that  are  unlearned, 
when  their  desire  or  will  is  to  be  taught.  I  confess  it 
is  easier  to  shut  out  the  ignorant,  than  to  bestow  our 
pains  night  and  day  in  teaching  them  ;  but  wo  to  such 
slothful,  unfaithful  servants.  Who  then  is  a  faithful 
and  a  wise  servant  whom  his  lord  hath  made  ruler  over 
his  household,  to  give  them  their  meat  in  due  season, 
according  to  every  one's  age  and  capacity?  "Blessed 
is  that  servant  whom  his  Lord,  when  he  cometh,  shall 
find  so  doing."  O  be  not  asleep  while  the  wolf  is 
waking !  Let  your  eye  be  quick  in  observing  the  dan- 
gers and  strayings  of  your  people.  If  jealousies,  heart- 
burnings, or  contentions  arise  among  them,  quench 
them  before  they  break  out  into  raging,  irresistible 
flames.  As  soon  as  you  discern  any  to  turn  worldly, 
or  proud,  or  factious,  or  self-conceited,  or  disobedient, 
or  cold,  and  slothful  in  his  duty,  delay  not,  but  presently 
make  out  for  his  recovery :  remember  how  many  are 
losers  in  the  loss  of  a  soul. 

3.  Do  not  daub  or  deal  slightly  with  any.     Some  will 


199 

not  tell  their  people  plainly  of  their  sins  because  they 
are  great  men,  as  if  none  but  the  poor  should  be 
plainly  dealt  with  :  do  not  you  so,  but  reprove  them 
sharply,  (though  diffidently  and  with  wisdom,)  that  they 
may  be  sound  in  faith.  God  doth  sufficiently  engage 
us  to  deal  plainly ;  he  hath  bid  us  speak  and  fear  not ; 
he  hath  promised  to  stand  by  us  ;  and  he  will  be  our 
security.  I  had  rather  hear  from  the  mouth  of  Balak, 
*'  God  hath  kept  thee  from  honour ;"  or  from  Ahab, 
"  Feed  him  with  the  bread  and  water  of  affliction  ;" 
than  to  hear  conscience  say.  Thou  hast  betrayed  souls 
to  damnation  by  thy  cowardice  and  silence  ;  or  to  hear 
God  say,  "  Their  blood  will  I  require  at  thy  hands  :" 
or  to  hear  from  Christ,  the  judge,  "  Cast  the  unprofita- 
ble servant  into  outer  darkness,  where  shall  be  weeping 
and  gnashing  of  teeth ;"  yea,  or  to  hear  these  sinners 
cry  out  against  me  in  eternal  fire,  and  with  implaca- 
ble rage  to  charge  me  with  their  undoing. 

And  as  you  must  be  plain  and  serious,  so  labour  to 
be  skilful  and  discreet,  that  the  manner  may  somewhat 
answer  the  excellence  of  the  matter.  How  oft  have  I 
heard  a  stammering  tongue,  with  ridiculous  expres- 
sions, vain  repetitions,  tedious  circumlocutions,  and  un- 
seemly pronunciation,  spoil  most  precious  doctrine,  and 
make  the  hearers  either  loathe  it,  or  laugh  at  it !  How 
common  are  these  extremes,  while  one  spoils  the  food 
of  life  by  affectation,  and  new-fashioned  mincing,  and 
pedantic  toys,  either  setting  forth  a  little  and  mean  mat- 
ter with  a  great  deal  of  froth  and  gaudy  dressing  ;  or 
hiding  excellent  truths  in  a  heap  of  vain  rhetoric  on  the 
other  side !  How  many  by  their  slovenly  dressing 
make  men  loathe  the  food  of  life,  and  cast  up  that  which 
should  nourish  them  !  Such  novices  are  admitted  into 
the  sacred  function  to  the  hardening  of  the  wicked,  and 
the  disgrace  of  the  work  of  the  Lord  :  and  those  that 
are  not  able  to  speak  sense  or  reason  are  made  the  am- 
bassadors of  the  most  high  God. 

O,  therefore,  let  me  beseech  you,  my  brethren,  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord,  especially  those  that  are  more  young 
and  weak,  that  you  tremble  at  the  greatness  of  this  holy 
employment,  and  run  not  up  into  a  pulpit  as  boldly  as 
into  the  marketplace :  study  and  pray,  pray  and  study, 


200  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

till  you  are  become  workmen  that  need  not  be  ashamed, 
rightly  dividing  the  word  of  truth  that  your  people  may 
not  be  ashamed  or  weary  to  hear  you  :  but  that,  beside 
your  clear  unfolding  the  doctrine  of  the  Gospel,  you 
may  also  be  masters  of  your  people's  affections.  It  is 
a  work  that  requireth  your  most  serious,  searching 
thoughts  :  running,  hasty,  easy  studies  bring  forth  blind 
births.  When  you  are  the  most  renowned  doctors  in 
the  Church  of  God,  alas,  how  little  is  it  that  you  know 
in  comparison  of  all  that  which  you  are  ignorant  of ! 

4.  Be  sure  that  your  conversation  be  teaching  as  well 
as  your  doctrine.  Do  not  confute  your  doctrine  by 
your  practice.  Be  as  forward  in  a  holy  and  heavenly 
life  as  you  are  in  pressing  it  on  others.  Let  your  dis- 
course be  as  edifying  and  spiritual  as  you  teach  them 
theirs  must  be  :  for  evil  language  give  them  good ;  and 
blessing  for  their  cursing.  Suffer  any  thing  rather  than 
the  Gospel  and  men's  souls  should  suffer  :  "  Become  all 
things  [lawful]  to  all  men,  if  by  any  means  you  may  win 
some."  Let  men  see  that  you  use  not  the  ministry 
only  for  a  trade  to  live  by,  but  that  your  hearts  are  set 
upon  the  welfare  of  their  souls.  Whatsoever  meek- 
ness, humility,  condescension,  or  self-denial,  you  teach 
them  from  the  Gospel,  O  teach  it  them  also  by  your  un- 
dissembled  example.  This  is  to  be  guides,  and  pilots, 
and  governors  of  the  Church  indeed. 

What  an  odious  sight  is  it  to  see  pride  and  ambition 
preach  humility  !  and  an  earthly  minded  man  preach  for 
a  heavenly  conversation  ! 

Do  I  need  to  tell  you  that  are  teachers  of  others  that 
we  have  but  a  little  while  longer  to  preach  ?  And  but 
a  few  more  breaths  to  breathe  ?  And  then  we  must 
come  down  and  be  accountable  for  our  work?  Do  I 
need  to  tell  you  that  we  must  die,  and  be  judged  as  well 
as  our  people?  Or  that  justice  is  more  severe  about 
the  sanctuary  ?  And  "  judgment  beginneth  at  the  house 
of  God?" 

5.  The  last  whom  I  would  persuade  to  this  great 
work  of  helping  others  to  the  heavenly  rest  is  parents 
and  masters  of  families.  All  you  that  God  hath  intrust- 
ed with  children  or  servants  consider  what  duty  lieth 
on  you  for  farthering  their  salvation.   That  this  exhoi  ta- 


THE   saints'   everlasting  REST.  201 

lion  may  be  the  more  effectual  with  you  I  will  lay 
down  several  considerations  for  you  seriously  to  think 
on  : — 

1.  What  plain  and  pressing  commands  of  God  are 
there  that  require  this  great  duty  at  your  hand  !  Deut. 
vi,  6,  7,  8 :  "  And  these  words  which  I  command  thee 
this  day  shall  be  in  thy  heart,  and  thou  shalt  teach  them 
diligently  to  thy  children,  speaking  of  them  when  thou 
sittest  in  thy  house,  and  Avhen  thou  walkest  by  the  way, 
and  when  thou  liest  down,  and  when  thou  risest  up." 
And  how  well  is  God  pleased  with  this  in  Abraham, 
Gen.  xviii,  17,  19:  "Shall  I  hide  from  Abraham  that 
thing  which  I  do  ?  For  I  know  him,  that  he  will  com- 
mand his  children,  and  his  household  after  him,  that 
they  shall  keep  the  way  of  the  Lord."  Prov.  xxii,  6 : 
"  Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should  go,  and  when 
he  is  old  he  will  not  depart  from  it."  So  that  you  see 
it  is  a  work  that  the  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth  hath  laid 
upon  you,  and  how  then  dare  you  neglect  it  ? 

2.  You  will  else  be  witnesses  against  your  own  souls : 
your  great  care  and  pains,  and  cost  for  their  bodies, 
will  condemn  you  for  your  neglect  of  their  precious 
souls  :  you  can  spend  yourselves  in  toiling  and  caring 
for  their  bodies,  and  even  neglect  your  own  souls,  and 
venture  them  sometimes  upon  unwarrantable  courses, 
and  all  to  provide  for  your  posterity :  and  have  you  not 
as  much  reason  to  provide  for  their  souls?.  Do  you 
not  believe  that  your  children  must  be  everlastingly 
happy  or  miserable?  And  should  not  that  be  fore- 
thought in  the  first  place  ? 

3.  Consider,  God  hath  made  your  children  to  be  your 
charge ;  yea,  and  your  servants  too :  every  one  will 
confess  they  are  the  minister's  charge,  and  what  a  dread- 
ful thing  is  it  for  them  to  neglect  them,  when  God  hath 
told  them,  that  if  they  tell  not  the  wicked  of  their  sin 
and  danger,  their  blood  shall  be  required  at  that  minis- 
ter's hands  !  And  is  not  your  charge  as  great  and  as 
dreadful  as  theirs  ?  Have  not  you  a  greater  charge  of 
your  own  families  than  any  minister  hath  ?  Yea,  doubt- 
less, and  your  duty  it  is  to  teach,  and  admonish,  and  re- 
prove them,  and  watch  over  them,  at  your  hands  else 
will  God  require  the  blood  of  their  souls.     The  greatest 

9* 


202  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

charge  it  is  that  ever  you  were  intrusted  with,  and  wo 
to  you  if  you  prove  unfaithful  and  betray  your  trust,  and 
■suffer  them  to  be  ignorant  for  Avant  of  your  teaching, 
or  wicked  for  want  of  your  admonition  or  correction. 
4.  Look  into  the  dispositions  and  Uves  of  your  chil- 
dren, and  see  what  a  work  there  is  for  you  to  do.  First, 
it  is  not  one  sin  that  you  must  help  them  against,  but 
thousands  ;  their  name  is  legion,  for  they  are  many  :  it 
is  not  one  weed  that  must  be  pulled  up,  but  the  field  is 
overspread  with  them.  Secondly,  and  how  hard  is  it 
to  prevail  against  one  of  them !  They  are  hereditary 
diseases,  bred  in  their  natures  :  they  are  as  near  them 
as  the  very  heart,  and  how  tenacious  are  all  things  of 
that  which  is  natural !  How  hard  to  teach  a  hare  not 
to  be  afraid,  or  a  lion  or  tiger  not  to  be  fierce  !  Be- 
sides, the  things  you  must  teach  them  are  quite  above 
them  ;  yea,  and  clean  contrary  to  the  interests  and  de- 
sires of  their  flesh :  how  hard  is  it  to  teach  a  man  to  be 
willing  to  be  poor  and  despised  for  Christ;  to  deny 
themselves,  and  displease  the  flesh ;  to  forgive  an  en- 
emy ;  to  love  those  that  hate  us  ;  to  watch  against  temp- 
tations ;  to  avoid  occasions  and  appearances  of  evil ;  to 
believe  in  a  crucified  Saviour  ;  to  rejoice  in  tribulation  ; 
to  make  God  their  delight  and  love;  and  to  have  their 
hearts  in  heaven,  while  they  live  on  earth !  I  think 
none  of  this  is  easy  :  they  that  think  otherwise  let  them 
try  and  judge  ;  yet  all  this  must  be  learned,  or  they  are 
undone  for  ever.  If  you  help  them  not  to  some  trade 
they  cannot  live  in  the  world  ;  but  if  they  be  destitute 
of  these  things  they  shall  not  live  in  heaven.  If  the 
mariner  be  not  skilful  he  may  be  drowned  ;  and  if  the 
soldier  be  not  skilful  he  may  be  slain :  but  they  that 
cannot  do  the  things  above  mentioned  will  perish  for 
ever :  "  For  without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  God." 
*  O  that  the  Lord  would  make  all  you  that  are  parents 
sensible  what  a  work  and  charge  doth  lie  upon  you  ! 
You  that  neglect  this  important  work,  and  talk  to  your 
families  of  nothing  but  the  world,  I  tell  you  the  blood 
of  souls  lies  on  you  :  make  as  light  of  it  as  you  will,  if 
you  repent  not  and  amend,  the  Lord  will  shortly  call 
you  to  an  account  for  the  guilt  of  your  children's  ever- 
lasting undoing. 


THE  saints'  everlasting  REST.  203 

5.  Think  with  yourselves  what  a  world  of  comfort 
you  may  have  if  you  be  faithful  in  this  duty  ;  if  you 
should  not  succeed  yet  you  have  freed  your  own  souls  ; 
and  though  it  be  sad  yet  you  may  have  peace  in  your 
own  consciences :  but  if  you  do  succeed  the  comfort  is 
inexpressible.  For,  1.  Good  children  will  be  truly  lov- 
mg  to  their  parents,  when  a  little  matter  will  make 
ungodly  children  cast  off  their  very  natural  affections. 
2.  Good  children  will  be  most  obedient  to  you,  they  dare 
not  disobey  you  because  of  the  command  of  God,  except 
you  should  command  them  that  which  is  unlawful,  and 
then  they  must  obey  God  rather  than  men.  3.  And  if 
you  should  fall  into  want  they  would  be  most  faithful 
in  relieving  you,  as  knowing  they  are  tied  by  a  double 
bond  of  nature  and  of  grace.  4.  And  they  will  also  be 
helpers  of  your  souls  ;  they  will  be  delighting  you  with 
holy  conference  and  actions,  when  wicked  children  will 
be  grieving  you  with  cursing,  and  swearing,  or  drunk- 
enness or  disobedience.  5.  But  the  greatest  joy  will 
be  when  you  shall  say,  "  Here  am  I,  and  the  children 
thou  hast  given  me."  And  are  not  all  these  comforts 
enough  to  persuade  you  to  this  duty  ? 

6.  Consider,  farther,  that  the  very  welfare  of  Church 
and  state  lieth  mainly  on  this  duty  of  well  educating 
children  ;  and  without  this  all  other  means  are  like  to  be 
far  less  successful.  I  seriously  profess  to  you  that  I 
verily  think  all  the  sins  and  miseries  of  the  land  may 
acknowledge  this  sin  for  their  nurse.  It  is  not  good 
laws  and  orders  that  will  reform  us  if  the  men  be  not 
good,  and  reformation  begin  not  at  home ;  when  chil- 
dren go  wicked  from  the  hands  of  their  parejits  in  every 
profession  they  bring  this  fruit  of  their  education  with 
them  ;  I  tell  you  seriously  this  is  the  cause  of  all  our 
miseries  in  Church  and  state,  even  the  want  of  a  holy 
education  of  children.  Many  lay  the  blame  on  this 
neglect  and  that,  but  there  is  none  hath  so  great  a  hand 
in  it  as  this. 

7.  r  entreat  you  that  are  parents  to  consider  what 
excellent  advantages  you  have  above  all  others  for  the 
saving  of  your  children. 

1.  They  are  under  your  hands  while  they  are  young, 
and  tender,  and  flexible  ;  but   they  come  to  ministers 


S04  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

when  they  are  grown  older,  and  stifFer,  and  settled  in 
their  ways,  and  think  themselves  too  good  to  be  cate- 
chised. Yon  have  a  twig  to  bend,  and  v/e  an  oak  :  you 
have  the  young  plants  of  sin  to  pluck  up,  and  we  the 
deep-rooted  vices.  The  consciences  of  children  are  not 
so  seared  with  a  custom  of  sinning,  and  long  resisting 
grace,  as  others.  You  have  the  soft  and  tender  earth 
to  plough  in,  and  we  have  the  hard  and  stony  ways,  that 
have  been  trodden  on  by  many  years'  practice  of  evil. 
We  have  a  double  task,  first  to  unteach  them,  and  then 
to  teach  them  better  ;  but  you  have  but  one.  "We  must 
unteach  them  all  that  the  world,  and  the  flesh,  and 
wicked  company,  and  the  devil  have  been  diligently 
teaching  them  in  many  years.  You  have  them  before 
they  are  possessed  with  prejudice  against  the  truth :  but 
we  have  them  to  teach  when  they  have  many  years 
lived  among  those  that  have  taught  them  to  think  God's 
ways  to  be  foolish.  Doth  not  the  experience  of  all  the 
world  show  you  the  power  of  education?  What  else 
makes  all  the  children  of  the  Jews  to  be  Jews  ?  And  all 
the  children  of  the  Turks  to  be  Mohammedans  ?  And 
of  Christians  to  be  in  profession  Christian  ?  And  of 
each  sect  or  party  in  religion  to  follow  their  parents  ? 
Now  what  an  advantage  have  you  to  use  all  this  for  the 
fartherance  of  their  happiness  ! 

2.  Consider,  also,  that  you  have  the  affections  of  your 
children  more  than  any  others  :  none  in  the  world  hath 
that  interest  in  their  hearts  as  you.  You  will  receive 
that  counsel  from  an  undoubted  friend  that  you  would 
not  from  an  enemy,  or  a  stranger.  Now,  your  children 
know  you  are  their  friends,  and  advise  them  in  love ; 
and  they  cannot  but  love  you  again.  Nature  hath  almost 
necessitated  them  to  love  you.  O,  therefore,  improve 
this  your  interest  in  them  for  their  good  ! 

3.  You  have  also  the  greatest  authority  over  them. 
You  may  command  them,  and  they  dare  not  disobey 
you,  or  else  it  is  your  own  fault,  for  the  most  part ;  for 
you  can  make  them  obey  you  in  your  business.;  yea, 
you  may  correct  them  to  enforce  obedience.  Your  au- 
thority also  is  the  most  unquestionable  authority  in  the 
world.  The  authority  of  kings  and  parliaments  has 
been  disputed,  but  yours  is  past  dispute.     And  therefore 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  205 

if  you  use  it  not  to  bring  them  to  God,  you  are  without 
excuse. 

4.  Besides,  their  dependence  is  on  you  for  their  main- 
tenance. They  know  you  can  either  give  them  or  deny 
them  what  you  have,  and  so  punish  and  reward  them  at 
your  pleasure.  But  on  ministers  or  neighbours  they 
have  no  such  dependence. 

5.  Moreover,  you  that  are  parents  know  the  tem- 
per and  inclinations  of  your  children,  what  vices  they 
are  most  inclined  to,  and  what  instruction  or  reproof 
they  most  need  :  but  ministers  cannot  so  well  know 
this. 

6.  Above  all,  you  are  ever  with  them,  and  so  have 
opportunity,  as  you  know  their  faults,  so  to  apply  the 
remedy.  You  may  be  still  talking  to  them  of  the  word 
of  God,  and  minding  them  of  their  state  and  duty,  and 
may  follow  and  set  home  every  word  of  advice,  as  they 
are  in  the  house  with  you,  or  in  the  shop,  or  in  the  field. 
O  what  an  excellent  advantage  is  this,  if  you  have  hearts 
to  use  it !  Especially  you,  mothers,  remember  this  ; 
you  are  more  with  your  children,  while  they  are  little 
ones,  than  their  fathers  :  be  you  therefore  still  teaching 
them  as  soon  as  ever  they  are  capable  of  learning  :  you 
cannot  do  God  such  eminent  service  yourselves  as  men ; 
but  you  may  train  up  children  that  may  do  it,  and  then 
you  will  have  part  of  the  comfort  and  honour.  What  a 
deal  of  pains  are  you  at  with  the  bodies  of  your  children 
more  than  the  fathers  ?  And  what  do  you  sutler  to  bring 
them  into  the  world  ;  and  will  not  you  be  at  as  much 
pains  for  the  saving  of  their  souls  ?  You  are  naturally 
of  more  tender  affections  than  men  ;  and  will  it  not 
move  you  to  think  that  your  children  should  perish  for 
ever  ?  Therefore  I  beseech  you,  for  the  sake  of  the 
children  of  your  bowels,  teach  them,  admonish  them, 
watch  over  them,  and  give  them  no  rest  till  you  have 
brought  them  to  Christ. 

And  thus  I  have  showed  you  reason  enough  to  make 
you  diligent  in  teaching  your  children. 

Let  us  next  hear  what  is  usually  objected  against  this 
by  negligent  men. 

Objection  1.  We  do  not  see  but  those  children  prove 
as  bad  as  others  that  are  taught  the  Scriptures,  and 


206  THE  saints'  EVERLASTINCt  REST. 

brought  up  so  holily  ;  and  those  prove  as  honest  men 
that  have  none  of  this  ado  with  them. 

Ans'we7\  Who  art  thou,  O  man,  that  disputest  against 
God?  Hath  God  charged  you  "to  teach  your  children 
diligently  his  word,  speaking  of  it  as  you  sit  at  home, 
and  as  you  walk  abroad,  as  you  lie  down,  and  as  you 
rise  up  ;"  and  dare  you  reply  that  it  is  as  good  let  it 
alone  ?  Why,  this  is  to  set  God  at  defiance  ;  and  as  it 
were  to  spit  in  his  face,  and  give  him  the  lie.  Will  you 
take  it  well  at  your  servants,  if  when  you  command  them 
to  do  a  thing,  they  should  return  you  an  answer,  that 
they  do  not  see  but  it  were  as  good  let  it  alone  ? 
W^retched  worm!  darest  thou  thus  lift  up  thy  head 
against  the  Lord  that  made  thee,  and  must  judge  thee  ? 
Is  it  not  he  that  commandeth  thee  ?  If  thou  believe  that 
this  is  the  word  of  God,  how  darest  thou  say  it  is  as 
good  disobey  it  ?  This  is  devilish  pride,  indeed,  when 
such  sottish,  sinful  dust,  shall  think  themselves  wiser 
than  the  living  God. 

2.  But  what  if  some  prove  bad  that  are  well  brought 
up  ?  It  is  not  the  generality  of  them.  Will  you  say 
that  Noah's  family  was  no  better  than  the  drowned 
world,  because  there  was  one  Ham  in  it  ?  nor  David's, 
because  there  was  one  Absalom  ?  nor  Christ's,  because 
there  was  one  Judas  ? 

3.  But  what  if  it  were  so?  Have  men  need  of  the 
less  teaching,  or  the  more  ?  You  have  more  wit  in  the 
matters  of  this  world.  You  will  not  say,  I  see  many  la- 
bour hard,  and  yet  are  poor,  and  therefore  it  is  as  good 
never  to  labour  at  all  :  you  will  not  say,  many  that  go 
to  school  learn  nothing,  and  therefore  they  may  learn  as 
much  though  they  never  go  ;  or  many  that  are  great 
tradesmen  break,  and  therefore  it  is  as  good  never  to 
trade  at  all ;  or  many  plough  and  sow  and  have  nothing 
come  up,  and  therefore  it  is  as  good  never  to  plough 
more.  What  a  fool  were  he  that  should  reason  thus  ! 
And  is  not  he  a  thousand  times  \vorse  that  shall  reason 
thus  for  men's  sovils  ?  Peter  reasons  the  clean  contrary 
way,  "  If  the  righteous  scarcely  be  saved,  vvhere  shall 
the  ungodly  and  sinner  appear  ?"  1  Peter  iv,  18.  And 
so  doth  Christ,  Luke  xiii,  24,  "  Strive  to  enter  in  at  the 
strait  gate  ;  for  many  shall  seek  to  enter,  and  not  be 


THE  saints'  everlasting  REST.  207 

able."  Other  men's  miscarriages  should  quicken  our 
diligence,  and  not  make  us  cast  away  all.  What  should 
you  lliink  of  that  man  that  should  look  over  into  his 
neighbour's  garden,  and  because  he  sees  here  and  there 
a  nettle  or  weed  among  much  better  stuff,  should  say, 
Why,  you  may  see  these  men  that  bestow  so  much  pains 
in  digging  and  weeding,  have  weeds  in  their  garden  as 
well  as  I,  that  do  nothing,  and  thei  efore  who  would  be 
at  so  much  pains  ?  Just  thus  doth  the  mad  world  talk. 
You  may  see  now  that  those  that  pray,  and  read,  and 
follow  sermons,  have  their  faults  as  well  as  we,  and  have 
wicked  persons  among  them  as  well  as  we  :  yea,  but 
that  is  not  the  whole  garden,  as  yours  is ;  it  is  but  here 
and  there  a  weed,  and  as  soon  as  they  spy  it,  they  pluck 
it  up,  and  cast  it  away. 

Objection  2.  Some  farther  object.  It  is  the  work  of 
ministers  to  teach  both  us  and  our  children,  and  there- 
fore we  may  be  excused. 

Answer  1.  It  is  first  your  duty,  and  then  the  minis- 
ter's. It  will  be  no  excuse  for  you,  because  it  is  their 
work,  except  you  could  prove  it  were  only  theirs.  Ma- 
gistrates must  govern  both  you  and  your  children  :  doth 
it  therefore  follow  that  you  must  not  govern  them  ?  It 
belongs  to  the  schoolmaster  to  correct  them,  and  doth 
it  not  belong  also  to  you?  There  must  go  many  hands 
to  this  great  work  ;  as  to  the  building  of  a  house  there 
must  be  many  workmen,  one  to  one  part,  and  another  to 
another,  and  one  must  not  leave  their  part,  and  say  it 
belongs  to  the  other:  so  it  is  here  in  the  .instructing  of 
your  children  :  first,  you  must  do  your  work,  and  then 
the  minister  must  do  his  ;  you  must  be  doing  it  private- 
ly, night  and  day  ;  the  minister  must  do  it  publicly  and 
privately,  as  oft  as  he  can. 

2.  But  as  the  case  now  stands  with  ministers,  they  are 
disabled  from  doing  that  which  belongs  to  their  office, 
and  therefore  you  cannot  now  cast  your  work  on  them. 
I  will  instance  but  in  two  things. 

First,  It  belongs  to  their  ofl[ice  to  govern  the  Church, 
and  to  teach  with  authority ;  and  great  and  small  are 
commanded  to  obey  them,  Heb.  xiii,  7,  17.  But  this  is 
unknown,  and  hearers  look  on  themselves  as  free  men, 
that   may  obey  or  not,  at  their  own  pleasure.     People 


208  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

think  we  have  authority  to  speak  to  them  when  they 
please  to  hear,  and  no  more.  Nay,  few  of  the  godly 
themselves  understand  the  authority  that  their  teachers 
have  over  them  from  Christ :  they  know  how  to  value  a 
minister's  gifts,  but  not  how  they  are  bound  to  obey  him 
because  of  his  office  :  not  that  they  should  obey  him  in 
evil,  nor  that  he  should  be  a  final  decider  of  all  contro- 
versies, nor  should  exercise  his  authority  in  things  of 
no  moment ;  but  as  a  schoolmaster  may  command  his 
scholars  when  to  come  to  school,  and  what  book  to  read, 
and  what  form  to  be  of;  and  as  they  ought  to  obey  him, 
and  learn  of  him,  and  not  to  set  their  wits  against  his, 
but  to  take  his  word,  and  believe  him  as  their  teacher,  till 
they  understand  as  well  as  he,  and  are  ready  to  leave  his 
school ;  just  so  are  the  people  bound  to  obey  and  learn 
of  their  teachers.  Now  this  ministerial  authority  is  un- 
known, and  so  ministers  are  the  less  capable  of  doing 
their  work,  which  comes  to  pass,  1.  From  the  pride  of 
man's  nature,  especially  novices,  which  makes  men  im- 
patient of  the  reins  of  guidance  and  command :  2.  From 
the  popish  error  of  implicit  faith  ;  to  avoid  which,  we 
are  driven  as  far  into  the  contrary  extreme  :  and  3.  From 
the  modesty  of  ministers,  that  are  loath  to  show  their 
commission,  and  make  known  their  authority,  lest  they 
should  be  thought  proud :  as  if  a  pilot  should  let  the 
seamen  run  the  ship  whither  they  will,  for  fear  of  being 
thought  proud  in  exercising  his  authority. 

Secondly,  A  far  greater  clog  than  this  doth  lie  upon 
ministers,  which  few  take  notice  of;  and  that  is,  the 
fewness  of  ministers,  and  the  greatness  of  congregations. 
In  the  apostles'  time  every  Church  had  a  multitude  of 
ministers,  and  so  it  must  be  again,  or  we  shall  never 
come  near  that  primitive  pattern  ;  and  then  they  could 
preach  publicly,  and  from  house  to  house  :  but  now, 
when  there  is  but  one  or  two  ministers  to  many  thousand 
souls,  we  cannot  teach  them  one  by  one.  So  that  you 
see  you  have  little  reason  to  cast  your  work  on  the 
ministers,  but  should  the  more  help  them  by  your  dili- 
gence in  your  several  families,  because  they  are  already 
so  overburdened. 

Objection  3.  But  some  will  say.  We  are  poor  men 
and  must  labour  for  our  living,  and  so  must  our  children  , 


THE   saints'   everlasting    REST.  209 

we  cannot  have  time  to  teach  them  the  Scriptures,  we 
have  somewhat  else  for  them  to  do. 

Answer.  And  are  not  poor  men  subject  to  God  as 
well  as  rich  ?  And  are  they  not  Christians  ?  And  must 
they  not  give  account  of  their  ways  ?  And  have  not 
your  children  souls  to  save  or  lose  as  well  as  the  rich  ? 
Cannot  you  find  time  to  speak  to  them  as  they  are  at 
their  work  ?  Have  you  not  time  to  instruct  them  on 
the  Lord's  day  ?  You  can  find  time  to  talk  idly  as  poor 
as  you  are  ;  and  can  you  find  no  time  to  talk  of  the 
way  to  life  ?  You  can  find  time  on  the  Lord's  day  for 
your  children  to  play,  or  walk,  or  talk  in  the  streets,  but 
no  time  to  mind  the  life  to  come.  Methinks  you  should 
rather  say  to  your  children,  I  have  no  lands  to  leave 
you  :  you  have  no  hope  of  great  matters  here  ;  be  sure 
therefore  to  make  the  Lord  your  portion,  that  you  may 
be  happy  hereafter  ;  if  you  could  get  riches,  they  would 
shortly  leave  you,  but  the  riches  of  grace  and  glory 
will  be  everlasting.  Methinks  you  should  say  as  Peter, 
"Silver  and  gold  I  have  none,  but  such  as  I  have,  I 
give  you."  The  kingdoms  of  the  world  cannot  be  had 
by  beggars,  but  the  kingdom  of  heaven  may. 

O  what  a  terrible  reckoning  will  many  poor  men  have, 
when  Christ  shall  plead  his  cause  and  judge  them  ! 
May  not  he  say,  I  made  the  way  to  worldly  honours 
inaccessible  to  you,  that  you  might  not  look  after  it  for 
yourselves  or  your  children  ;  but  heaven  I  set  open  that 
you  might  have  nothing  to  discourage  you :  I  confined 
riches  and  honours  to  a  few ;  but  my  blood  and  salvation 
I  offered  to  all,  that  none  might  say,  I  was  not  invited  : 
I  tendered  heaven  to  the  poor  as  well  as  the  rich  :  I 
made  no  exception  against  the  meanest  beggar  ;  why 
then  did  you  not  come  yourselves,  and  bring  your  chil- 
dren, and  teach  them  the  way  to  the  eternal  inheritance  ? 
Do  you  say  you  were  poor?  Why,  I  did  not  set  heaven 
to  sale  for  money ;  I  called  those  that  had  nothing  to 
take  it  freely  ;  only  on  condition  they  would  take  me 
for  their  Saviour  and  Lord,  and  give  up  themselves  to 
me  in  obedience  and  love. 

What  can  you  answer  Christ  when  he  shall  thus  con- 
vince you  ?  Is  it  not  enough  that  your  children  are 
poor  and  miserable  here,  but  you  would  have  them  be 


210  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

worse  for  everlasting  ?  If  your  children  were  beggars, 
yet  if  they  were  such  beggars  as  Lazarus,  they  may  be 
conveyed  by  angels  into  the  presence  of  God.  But 
believe  it,  as  God  will  save  no  man  because  he  is  a 
gentleman,  so  will  he  save  no  man  because  he  is  a 
beggar.  God  hath  so  ordered  it  in  his  providence,  that 
riches  are  common  occasions  of  men's  damnation,  and 
will  you  think  poverty  a  sufficient  excuse  ?  The  hardest 
point  in  all  our  work  is  to  be  weaned  from  the  world, 
and  in  love  with  heaven  :  and  if  you  will  not  be  weaned 
from  it,  that  have  nothing  in  it  but  labour  and  sorrow, 
you  have  no  excuse.  The  poor  cannot  have  time,  and 
the  rich  will  not  have  time,  or  they  are  ashamed  to  be 
so  forward  :  the  young  think  it  too  soon,  and  the  old 
too  late  ;  and  thus  most  men  instead  of  being  saved, 
have  somewhat  to  say  against  their  salvation ;  and  when 
Christ  sendeth  to  invite  them,  they  say,  "  I  pray  thee 
have  me  excused."  O  unworthy  guest  of  such  a 
blessed  feast,  and  worthy  to  be  turned  into  everlasting 
burnings. 

Objection  4.-  But  some  will  object.  We  have  been 
brought  up  in  ignorance  ourselves,  and  therefore  we  are 
unable  to  teach  our  children. 

Answer.  Indeed  this  is  the  very  sore  of  the  land  ;  but 
is  it  not  a  pity  that  men  should  so  receive  their  destruc- 
tion by  tradition  ?  Would  you  have  this  course  to  go  on 
thus  still  ?  Your  parents  did  not  teach  you,  and  there- 
fore you  cannot  teach  your  children,  and  therefore  they 
cannot  teach  theirs  :  by  this  course  the  knowledge  of 
God  would  be  banished  out  of  the  world,  and  never  be 
recovered.  But  if  your  parents  did  not  teach  you,  why 
did  not  you  learn  when  you  came  to  age  ?  The  truth  is, 
you  had  no  hearts  for  it,  for  he  that  hath  not  knowledge 
cannot  value  it,  or  love  it.  But  yet,  though  you  have 
greatly  sinned,  it  is  not  too  late,  if  you  will  but  follow 
my  faithful  advice  in  these  four  points  : — 

1.  Get  your  hearts  deeply  sensible  of  your  own  sin 
and  misery,  because  of  this  long  time  which  you  have 
spent  in  ignorance  and  neglect.  Bethink  yourselves 
when  you  are  alone ;  did  not  God  make  you,  and  sus- 
tain you  for  his  service?  Should  not  he  have  had  the 
youth  and  strength  of  your  spirits  ?     Did  you  live  all 


THE   saints'    everlasting   REST.  21 X 

this  time  at  the  door  of  eternity  ?  What  if  you  had 
died  in  ignorance,  where  had  you  been  ?  What  a  deal 
of  time  have  you  spent  to  little  purpose  ?  Your  life  is 
near  done,  and  your  work  all  undone.  You  are  ready 
to  die  before  you  have  learned  to  live.  Should  not  God 
have  had  a  better  share  of  your  lives,  and  your  souls 
been  more  regarded  and  provided  for  ?  In  the  midst  of 
these  thoughts,  cast  down  yourselves  in  sorrow,  as  at 
the  feet  of  Christ ;  bewail  your  folly,  and  beg  pardon 
and  recovering  grace. 

2.  Then  think  as  sadly  how  you  have  wronged  your 
children.  If  an  unthrift  that  hath  sold  all  his  lands, 
will  lament  it  for  his  children's  sake,  as  well  as  his  own, 
much  more  should  you. 

3.  Next  set  presently  to  work  and  learn  yourselves. 
If  you  can  read,  do  ;  if  you  cannot,  get  some  that  can  ; 
and  be  much  among  those  that  will  instruct  you ;  be 
not  ashamed  to  be  seen  among  learners,  but  be  ashamed 
that  you  had  not  learned  sooner.  God  forbid  you  should 
be  so  mad  as  to  say,  I  am  now  too  old  to  learn  ;  except 
you  be  too  old  to  serve  God,  and  be  saved,  how  can  you 
be  too  old  to  learn  to  be  saved  ?  Why  not  rather,  I  am 
too  old  to  serve  the  devil  and  the  world,  1  have  tried 
them  too  long  to  trust  them  any  more.  What  if  your 
parents  had  not  taught  you  any  trade  to  live  by  ?  Would 
not  you  have  set  yourselves  to  learn,  when  you  had 
come  to  age?  Remember  that  you  have  souls  to  care 
for,  as  well  as  your  children,  and  therefore  first  begin 
with  yourselves. 

4.  While  you  are  learning  yourselves,  teach  your 
children  what  you  do  know  ;  and  what  you  cannot  teach 
them  yourselves,  put  them  to  learn  of  others  that  can; 
persuade  them  into  the  company  of  those  who  will  be 
glad  to  instruct  them.  Have  you  no  neighbours  that 
will  be  helpful  to  you  herein  ?  O  do  not  keep  your- 
selves strange  to  them,  but  go  among  them,  and  desire 
their  help,  and  be  thankful  to  them  that  they  will  enter- 
tain you  in  their  company.  God  forbid  that  you  should, 
be  like  those  that  Christ  speaks  of,  Luke  xi,  52,  "  that 
would  neither  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God  them- 
selves, nor  suffer  those  that  would,  to  enter."  God  for- 
bid you  should  be  such  barbarous  wretches,  as  to  hinder 


212  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

your  children  from  being  godly,  and  to  teach  them  to  be 
wicked  !  If  any  thing  that  walks  in  flesh  may  be  called 
a  devil,  I  think  it  is  a  parent  that  hindereth  his  children 
from  salvation  :  nay,  I  will  say  more,  I  verily  think  that 
in  this  they  are  far  worse  than  the  devil.  God  is  a 
righteous  judge,  and  will  not  make  the  devil  him.self 
worse  than  he  is :  I  pray  you  be  patient  while  you  con- 
sider it,  and  then  judge  yourselves.  They  are  the  pa- 
rents of  their  children,  and  so  is  not  the  devil :  do  you 
think  then  that  it  is  as  great  a  fault  in  him  to  seek  their 
destruction,  as  in  them  ?  Is  it  as  great  a  fault  for  the 
wolf  to  kill  the  lambs,  as  for  their  own  dams  to  do  it  ? 
Is  it  so  horrid  a  fault  for  an  enemy  in  war  to  kill  a 
child,  or  for  a  bear  or  mad  dog  to  kill  it,  as  for  the 
mother  to  dash  its  brains  against  a  wall  ?  You  know  it 
is  not :  do  you  think  then  that  it  is  so  hateful  a  thing  in 
Satan  to  entice  your  children  to  sin  and  hell,  and  to 
discourage  and  dissuade  them  from  holiness,  as  it  is  in 
you:  You  are  bound  to  love  them  by  nature,  more 
than  Satan  is.  O  then,  what  people  are  those  that  will 
teach  their  children,  instead  of  holiness,  to  curse,  and 
swear,  and  rail,  and  backbite,  to  .be  proud  and  revenge- 
ful, to  break  the  Lord's  day,  and  to  despise  his  ways,  to 
speak  wantonly  and  filthily,  to  scorn  at  holiness,  and 
glory  in  sin !  O  when  God  shall  ask  these  children, 
Where  learned  you  this  language  and  practice  ?  and  they 
shall  say,  I  learned  it  of  my  father  or  mother :  I  would 
not  be  in  the  case  of  those  parents  for  all  the  world ! 
Alas !  is  it  a  work  that  is  worth  the  teaching,  to  undo 
themselves  for  ever  ?  Or  can  they  not  without  teaching 
learn  it  too  easily  of  themselves?  Do  you  need  to 
teach  a  serpent  to  sting,  or  a  lion  to  be  fierce  ?  Do  you 
need  to  sow  weeds  in  your  garden  ?  Will  they  not  grow 
of  themselves?  To  build  a  house  requires  skill  and 
teaching,  but  a  little  may  serve  to  set  a  town  on  fire : 
to  heal  the  wounded  or  the  sick,  requireth  skill;  but  to 
make  a  man  sick,  or  to  kill  him,  requireth  but  little. 
You  may  sooner  teach  your  children  to  swear  than  to 
pray  ;  and  to  mock  at  godliness,  than  to  be  truly  godly. 
If  these  parents  were  sworn  enemies  to  their  children, 
and  should  study  seven  years  how  to  do  them  the 
greatest  mischief,  they  could  not  possibly  find  out  a 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  213 

surer  way,  than  by  drawing  them  to  sin,  and  withdraw- 
ing them  from  God. 

I  shall  therefore  conclude  with  this  earnest  request  to 
all  Christian  parents  that  read  these  lines,  that  they 
would  have  compassion  on  the  souls  of  their  poor  chil- 
dren, and  be  faithful  to  the  great  trust  God  hath  put  on 
them.  O  sirs  !  if  you  cannot  do  what  you  would  do  for 
them,  yet  do  what  you  can.  Both  Church  and  state, 
city  and  country,  groan  under  the  neglect  of  this  weighty 
duty  :  your  children  know  not  God,  nor  his  laws  ;  but 
take  his  name  in  vain,  and  slight  hts  worship ;  and  you 
do  neither  instruct  them  nor  correct  them,  and  therefore 
God  doth  correct  both  them  and  you.  You  are  so 
tender  of  them  that  God  is  the  less  tender  both  of  them 
and  you.  Wonder  not  if  God  make  you  smart  for  your 
children's  sins  ;  for  you  are  guilty  of  all  they  commit, 
by  your  neglect  of  doing  your  duty  to  reform  them  ; 
even  as  he  that  maketh  a  man  drunk,  is  guilty  of  all  the 
sin  that  he  committeth  in  his  drunkenness.  Will  you 
resolve  therefore  to  set  upon  this  duty,  and  neglect  it 
no  longer  ?  Remember  Eli :  your  children  are  like 
Moses  in  the  basket,  in  the  water,  ready  to  perish  if 
they  have  not  help.  As  ever  you  would  not  be  charged 
before  God  for  murderers  of  their  souls ;  and  as  ever 
you  would  not  have  them  cry  out  against  you  in  ever- 
lasting lire,  see  that  you  teach  them  how  to  escape  it, 
and  bring  them  up  in  holiness,  and  the  fear  of  God. 

You  have  heard  that  the  God  of  heaven  doth  flatly 
command  it :  I  charge  every  man  of  you,  therefore, 
upon  your  allegiance  to  him,  as  you  will  very  shortly 
answer  the  contrary  at  your  peril,  that  you  will  neither 
refuse  or  neglect  this  most  necessary  work.  If  you  are 
not  wiUing  to  do  it,  now  you  know  it  to  be  so  plain  and 
so  great  a  duty,  you  are  flat  rebels,  and  no  true  subjects 
of  Christ.  If  you  are  willing  to  do  it,  but  know  not 
how,  I  will  add  a  few  words  of  direction  to  help  you. 

1.  Teach  them  by  your  own  example,  as  well  as  by 
your  words.  Be  yourselves  such  as  you  would  have 
them  be  :  practice  is  the  most  effectual  teaching  of 
children,  who  are  addicted  to  imitation,  especially  of 
their  parents.  Lead  them  the  way  to  prayer,  and  read- 
ing, and   other  duties.     Be  not  like  base  commanders, 


214  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

that  will  put  on  their  soldiers  but  not  go  on  themselves. 
Can  you  expect  your  children  should  be  wiser  or  bet- 
ter than  you  !  Let  them  not  hear  those  words  out 
of  your  mouths,  nor  see  those  practices  in  your  lives 
which  you  reprove  in  them.  Who  should  lead  the 
way  in  holiness  but  the  father  and  master  of  the  fami- 
ly ?  It  is  a  sad  time  when  a  master  or  father  will  not 
hinder  his  family  from  serving  God,  but  will  give  them 
leave  to  go  to  heaven  without  him. 

I  will  but  name  the  rest  of  your  direct  duty  for  your 
family.  1.  You  must  help  to  inform  their  understand- 
ings. 2.  To  store  their  memories.  3.  To  rectify  their 
wills.  4.  To  quicken  their  affections.  5.  To  keep 
tender  their  consciences.  6.  To  restrain  their  tongues, 
and  help  them  to  skill  in  gracious  speech ;  and  to  re- 
form and  watch  over  their  outward  conversation. 

To  these  ends,  1.  Be  sure  to  keep  them,  at  least,  so 
long  at  school  till  they  can  read  English.  It  is  a  thou- 
sand pities  a  reasonable  creature  should  look  upon  a 
Bible  as  upon  a  stone  or  a  piece  of  wood.  2.  Get  them 
Bibles  and  good  books,  and  see  that  they  read  them. 
3.  Examine  them  often  what  they  learn.  4.  Especially 
spend  the  Lord's  day  in  this  work,  and  see  that  they 
spend  it  not  in  sports  and  idleness.  .5.  Show  them  the 
meaning  of  what  they  read  and  learn.  6.  Acquaint 
them  with,  and  keep  them  in  company  where  they  may 
learn  good,  and  keep  them  out  of  that  company  that 
would  teach  them  evil.  7.  Be  sure  to  cause  them  to 
learn  some  catechism  containing  the  chief  heads  of 
divinity. 

The  heads  of  divinity  which  you  must  teach  them 
first  are  these  : — 

1.  That  there  is  one  only  God,  who  is  a  Spirit,  invisi- 
ble, infinite,  eternal,  almighty,  good,  merciful,  true,  just, 
holy.  2.  That  this  God  is  one  in  three.  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost.  3.  That  he  is  the  Maker,  Maintainer, 
and  Lord  of  all.  4.  That  man's  happiness  consisteth  in 
the  enjoying  of  this  God,  and  not  in  fleshly  pleasure, 
profits,  or  honours.  5.  That  God  made  the  first  man 
upright  and  happy,  and  gave  him  a  law  to  keep,  with 
condition  that  if  he  kept  it  perfectly  he  should  live 
happy  for  ever ;    but  if  he  broke  it,  he  should  die. 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  215 

6.  That  man  broke  this  law,  and  so  forfeited  his  welfare, 
and  became  guilty  of  death  as  to  himself  and  all  his 
posterity.  7.  That  Christ  the  Son  of  God  did  here  in- 
terpose and  prevent  the  full  execution,  undertaking  to 
die  instead  of  man,  and  so  redeem  him.  8.  That  Christ 
hereupon  did  make  with  man  a  better  covenant,  which 
proclaimed  pardon  of  sin  to  all  that  did  but  repent,  and 
believe,  and  obey  sincerely.  9.  That  he  revealed  this 
covenant  and  mercy  to  the  world  by  degrees :  first,  in 
darker  promises,  prophecies,  and  sacrifices  ;  then  in 
many  ceremonious  types ;  and  then  by  more  plain  fore- 
telling by  the  prophets.  10.  That  in  the  fulness  of 
time  Christ  came  and  took  our  nature  into  union  with 
his  Godhead,  being  conceived  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
born  of  the  Virgin  Mary..  11.  That  while  he  was  on 
earth  he  lived  a  life  of  sorrows,  was  croAvned  with 
thorns,  and  bore  the  pains  that  our  sins  deserved ;  at 
last  being  crucified  to  death,  and  buried,  so  satisfied  the 
justice  of  God.  12.  That  he  also  preached  to  the  Jews, 
and  by  constant  miracles  proved  the  truth  of  his  doc- 
trines before  thousands  of  witnesses  :  •  that  he  revealed 
more  fully  his  new  covenant,  that  whosoever  will  believe 
in  him,  and  accept  him  for  their  Saviour  and  Lord,  shall 
be  pardoned  and  saved,  and  have  a  far  greater  glory 
than  they  lost ;  and  they  that  will  not,  shall  lie  under 
the  curse  and  guilt,  and  be  condemned  to  the  everlasting 
fire  of  hell.  13.  That  he  rose  again  from  the  dead, 
having  conquered  death,  and  took  possession  of  his  do- 
minion over  all,  and  so  ascended  up  into  heaven,  and 
there  reigneth  in  glory.  14.  That  before  his  ascension 
he  gave  charge  to  his  apostles  to  preach  the  Gospel  to 
all  nations  and  persons,  and  to  offer  Christ,  and  mercy, 
and  life,  to  every  one,  without  exception,  and  to  entreat 
and  persuade  them  to  receive  him,  and  that  he  gave 
them  authority  to  send  forth  others  on  the  same  mes- 
sage, and  to  baptize,  and  to  gather  Churches,  and  to 
confirm  and  order  them,  and  settle  a  course  for  the  suc- 
cession of  ministers  and  ordinances  to  the  end  of  the 
world.  15.  That  he  also  gave  them  power  to  work  fre- 
quent and  evident  miracles  for  the  confirmation  of  their 
doctrine  ;  and  to  annex  their  writings  to  the  rest  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  so  to  finish  and  seal  them  up,  and  de- 


216  TflE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

liver  them  to  the  world  as  his  infallible  word,  which 
none  must  dare  to  alter,  and  which  all  must  observe. 
16.  That  for  all  his  free  grace  is  offered  to  the  world, 
yet  the  heart  is  by  nature  so  desperately  wicked,  that 
no  man  will  believe  and  entertain  Christ  sincerely,  ex- 
cept by  an  almighty  power  he  be  changed  and  born 
again  ;  and  therefore  doth  Christ  send  forth  his  Spirit 
with  his  word,  which  worketh  holiness  in  our  hearts, 
drawing  us  to  God  and  the  Redeemer.  17.  That  the 
means  by  Avhich  Christ  worketh  and  preserveth  this 
grace  is  the  word  read  and  preached,  together  v/ith  fre- 
quent, fervent  prayer,  meditation,  sacraments,  and  gra- 
cious conferences  ;  and  it  is  much  farthered  also  by 
special  providences  keeping  us  from  temptation  ;  fitting 
occurrences  to  our  advantage,  drawing  us  by  mercies, 
and  driving  us  by  afflictions  :  and  therefore  it  must  be 
the  great  and  daily  care  of  every  Christian  to  use  faith- 
fully all  the  ordinances,  and  improve  all  providences. 
18.  That  though  the  new  law  or  covenant  be  an  easy 
yoke,  and  there  is  nothing  grievous  in  Christ's  com- 
mands, yet  so  bad  are  our  hearts,  and  so  strong  our 
temptations,  and  so  diligent  our  enemies  that  whosoever 
will  be  saved  must  strive,  and  watch,  and  bestow  his  ut- 
most care  and  pains,  and  deny  his  flesh,  and  forsake  all 
that  would  draw  liim  from  Christ,  and  herein  continue 
to  the  end  and  overcome  :  and  because  this  cannot  be 
done  without  continual  supplies  of  grace,  whereof  Christ 
is  the  only  fountain,  therefore  we  must  live  in  continual 
dependence  on  him  by  faith,  and  know  "  that  our  life  is 
hid  with  God  in  him."  19.  That  Christ  will  thus  by 
his  word  and  Spirit  gather  him  a  Church  out  of  all  the 
world,  which  is  his  body,  and  spouse,  and  be  their  head 
and  husband,  and  will  be  tender  of  them  as  the  apple 
of  his  eyes,  and  preserve  them  from  danger,  and  con- 
tinue among  them  his  presence  and  ordinances  ;  and 
that  the  members  of  this  Church  must  live  together  in 
entire  love  and  peace,  delighting  themselves  in  God  and 
his  worship,  and  the  forethoughts  of  their  everlasting 
happiness  ;  forbearing  and  forgiving  one  another,  and 
relieving  each  other  in  need  ;  and  all  men  ought  to 
strive  to  be  of  this  society  :  yet  will  the  visible  Churches 
be  still  mixed  of  good  and  bad.     20.  That  when  the  full 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  217 

number  of  these  are  called  home,  Christ  will  come  down 
from  heaven  again,  and  raise  all  the  dead,  and  set  them 
before  him  to  be  judged ;  and  all  that  have  loved  God, 
and  believed  in  Christ,  and  been  willing  that  he  should 
reign  over  them,  and  have  improved  their  mercies  in 
the  day  of  grace,  them  will  he  justify,  and  sentence 
them  to  inherit  everlasting  glory  :  and  those  that  were 
not  such,  he  will  condemn  to  everlasting  fire  :  both 
which  sentences  shall  be  then  executed  accordingly. 

This  is  the  brief  sum  of  the  doctrine  which  you  must 
teach  your  children.  Though  our  ordinary  creed,  call- 
ed the  apostles'  creed,  contain  all  the  absolute  funda- 
mentals ;  yet  in  some  it  is  so  generally  and  darkly  ex- 
pressed, that  an  explication  is  necessary. 

Then  for  matter  of  practice  teach  them  the  meaning 
of  the  commandments,  especially  of  the  great  com- 
mands of  the  Gospel ;  show  them  what  is  commanded 
and  forbidden  in  the  first  table,  and  in  the  second,  to- 
ward God  and  men,  in  regard  of  the  inward  and  out- 
ward man.  And  here  show  them,  1.  The  authority 
commanding,  that  is,  the  almighty  God,  by  Christ  the 
Redeemer.  They  are  not  now  to  look  at  the  command 
as  coming  from  God  immediately,  merely  as  God,  or 
the  Creator :  but  as  coming  from  God,  by  Christ  the 
Mediator,  "who  is  now  the  Lord  of  all  ;"  seeing  "the 
Father  now  judgeth  no  man,  but  hath  committed  all 
judgment  to  the  Son."  2.  Show  them  the  terms  on 
which*  duty  is  required,  and  the  ends  of  it.  3.  And  the 
nature  of  duties,  and  the  way  to  perform  them  aright. 
4.  And  the  right  order,  that  they  first  love  God,  and 
then  their  neighbour  ;  "  first  seek  the  kingdom  of  God 
and  his  righteousness."  5.  Show  them  the  excellences 
and  delights  of  God's  service.  6.  And  the  flat  neces- 
sity of  all  this.  7.  Especially  labour  to  get  all  to  their 
hearts,  and  teach  them  not  only  to  speak  the  words,  but 
to  reduce  them  to  practice. 

And  for  sin,  show  them  its  evil  and  danger,  and  watch 
over  them  against  it.  Especially,  1.  The  sins  that 
youth  is  commonly  addicted  to.  2.  And  which  their 
nature  and  constitution  most  lead  them  to.  3.  And 
which  the  time  and  place  most  strongly  tempt  to. 
4.  But  especially  be  sure  to  kill  their  killing  sins,  those 
10 


2!8  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

that  all  are  prone  to,  and  are  of  all  most  deadly :  as 
pride,  worldliness,  ignorance,  profaneness,  and  flesh- 
pleasing. 

And  for  tlie  manner  you  must  do  all  this: — 1.  Be- 
times, before  sin  get  rooting.  2.  Frequently.  3.  Sea- 
sonably. 4.  Seriously  and  diligently.  5.  Affection- 
ately and  tenderly.  6.  And  with  authority:  compel- 
ling where  commanding  will  not  serve  ;  and  adding 
correction  where  instruction  is  frustrated. 

And  thus  I  have  done  with  the  use  of  exhortation,  to 
do  our  utmost  for  the  salvation  of  others.  The  Lord 
give  m.en  compassionate  hearts,  that  it  may  be  practised, 
and  then  I  doubt  not  but  he  will  succeed  it  to  the  in- 
crease of  his  Church. 


END    OF    THE  SECOND    PART. 


THE 

SAINTS'  EVERLASTING  REST. 

PART  III. 


CONTAINING  A  DIRECTORY   FOR  THE   GETTING  AND  KEEPING  THE  HEART 

IN    HEAVEN,   BY   THE   DILIGENT   PRACTICE    OF    THAT   EXCELLENT 

DUTY    OF   MEDITATION. 


CHAPTER  I. 

REPROVING  OUR  EXPECTATIONS  OF  REST  ON  EARTH. 

Doth  this  rest  remain?  How  great  then  is  our  sin 
and  folly  to  seek  and  expect  it  here  !  Where  shall  we 
find  the  Christian  that  deserves  not  this  reproof?  Sure- 
ly we  may  all  cry  guilty  to  this.  We  know  not  how  to 
enjoy  convenient  houses,  goods,  lands,  and  revenues, 
but  we  seek  rest  in  these  enjoyments.  We  seldom,  I 
fear,  have  such  sweet  and  contenting  thoughts  of  God 
and  glory,  as  we  have  of  our  earthly  delights.  How 
much  rest  do  we  seek  in  buildings,  walks,  apparel,  ease, 
recreation,  sleep,  pleasing  meats  and  drinks,  company, 
health,  and  strength,  and  long  life  ?  Nay,  we  can  scarce 
enjoy  the  necessary  means  that  God  hath  appointed  for 
our  spiritual  good,  but  we  are  seeking  rest  in  them. 
Our  books,  our  preachers,  sermons,  friends,  abilities  for 
duty,  do  not  our  hearts  quiet  themselves  in  them,  even 
more  than  in  God  ?  Indeed,  in  words  we  disclaim,  and 
God  hath  usually  the  pre-eminence  in  our  tongues  and 
professions :  but  do  we  not  desire  these  more  violently 
when  we  want  them  than  we  do  the  Lord  himself?  Do 
we  not  cry  out  more  sensibly,  O  my  friend,  my  goods, 
my  health  !  than,  O  my  God  ?  Do  we  not  miss  ministry 
and  means  more  passionately  than  we  miss  our  God? 
Do  we  not  bestir  ourselves  more  to  obtain  and  enjoy 
these,  than  we  do  to  recover  our  communion  with  God? 
Do  we  not  delight  more  in  the  possession  of  these,  than 
we  do  in  the  fruition  of  God  himself?     Nay,  are  not 


220  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

those  mercies  and  duties  more  pleasant  to  us,  wherein 
we  stand  at  the  greatest  distance  from  God  ?  We  can 
read,  and  study,  and  confer,  preach  and  hear,  day  aftei 
day,  without  much  weariness  ;  because  in  these  we  have 
to  do  with  instruments  and  creatures  :  but  in  secret 
prayer  and  conversing  with  God  immediately,  where  no 
creature  interposeth,  how  dull,  how  heartless,  and 
weary  are  we  !  And  if  we  lose  creatures  or  means,  doth 
it  not  trouble  us  more  than  our  loss  of  God  ?  If  we  lose 
but  a  friend,  or  health,  all  the  town  will  hear  of  it :  but 
we  can  miss  our  God  and  scarce  bemoan  our  misery. 
Thus  it  is  apparent,  we  make  the  creature  our  rest.  It 
is  not  enough,  that  they  are  refreshing  helps  in  our  way 
to  heaven  ;  but  they  must  also  be  made  our  heaven  it- 
self. Reader,  I  would  as  willingly  make  thee  sensible 
of  this  sin,  as  of  any  sin  in  the  world  ;  for  the  Lord's 
greatest  quarrel  with  us  is  in  this  point.  Therefore  I 
most  earnestly  beseech  thee  to  press  upon  thine  own 
conscience  these  following  considerations  : 

1.  It  is  gross  idolatry  to  make  any  creature  or  means 
our  rest :  to  settle  the  soul  upon  it,  and  say,  Now  I  am 
well,  upon  the  bare  enjoyment  of  the  creature  :  what  is 
this,  but  to  make  it  oui  God  ?  Certainly,  to  be  the 
soul's  rest  is  God's  own  prerogative.  And  as  it  is  pal- 
pable idolatry  to  place  our  rest  in  riches  and  honours  ; 
so  it  is  but  a  more  refined  idolatry  to  take  up  our  rest 
in  excellent  means,  in  the  Church's  prosperity,  and  in  its 
reformation.  When  we  would  have  all  that  out  of  God, 
which  is  to  be  had  only  in  God  ;  what  is  this  but  to  run 
away  from  him  to  the  creature,  and  in  our  hearts  to  deny 
him?  When  we  fetch  more  of  our  comfort  from  the 
thoughts  of  prosperity,  and  those  mercies  which  we 
have  at  a  distance  from  God,  than  from  the  forethoughts 
of  our  everlasting  blessedness  in  him ;  are  we  Chris- 
tians in  judgment,  and  Pagans  in  affection  ?  Do  we  give 
our  senses  leave  to  be  the  choosers  of  our  happiness, 
while  reason  and  faith  stand  by  ?  O  how  ill  must  our 
dear  Lord  needs  take  it,  when  we  give  him  cause  to 
complain,  as  sometime  he  did  of  our  fellow  idolaters, 
Jer.  i,  6,  that  we  have  been  lost  sheep,  and  have  for- 
gotten our  resting  place  !  When  we  give  him  cause  to 
say,  My  people  can  find  rest  in  any  thing  rather  than  in 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  221 

1110  !  They  can  find  delight  in  one  another,  but  none  in 
mo  ;  thoy  can  rejoice  in  my  creatures  and  ordinances, 
but  not  in  ine  ;  yea,  in  their  very  labours  and  duty  they 
seek  for  rest,  but  not  in  me ;  they  had  rather  be  any- 
where than  be  with  me.  Are  these  their  gods  1  Have 
these  delivered  and  redeemed  them?  Will  these  be 
better  to  them  than  I  have  been,  or  than  I  would  be  ?  If 
yourselves  have  but  a  wife,  a  husband,  a  son,  that  had 
rather  be  anywhere  than  in  your  company,  and  is  never 
so  merry  as  when  farthest  from  you,  would  you  not  take 
it  ill  yourselves?  Why,  so  must  our  God  needs  do. 
For  what  do  we  but  lay  these  things  in  one  end  of  the 
balance,  and  God  in  the  other,  and  foolishly  prefer  them 
before  him?  As  Elkanah  said  to  Hannah,  "Am  not  I 
better  to  thee  than  ten  sons  ?"  So  when  we  are  longing 
after  creatures,  we  may  hear  God  say,  Am  not  I  better 
than  all  the  creatures  to  thee  ? 

2.  Consider,  how  thou  contradictest  the  end  of  God 
in  giving  these  things.  He  gave  them  to  help  thee  to 
him,  and  dost  thou  take  up  with  them  in  his  stead  ?  He 
gave  them  that  they  might  be  refreshments  in  thy  jour- 
ney ;  and  wouldst  thou  now  dwell  in  thy  inn,  and  go  no 
farther  ?  Thou  dost  not  only  contradict  God  herein, 
but  losest  that  benefit  which  thou  mightest  receive  by 
them,  yea,  and  makest  them  thy  great  hurt  and  hinder- 
ance.  Surely,  it  may  be  said  of  all  our  comforts  and  all 
ordinances,  and  the  blessedest  enjoyments  in  the  Church 
on  earth,  as  God  said  to  the  Israelites  of  his  ark.  Num- 
bers X,  33,  "  The  ark  of  the  covenant  went  before  them, 
to  search  out  for  them  a  resting  place."  So  do  all  God's 
mercies  here.  They  are  not  that  rest,  (as  John  profess- 
eth  he  was  not  the  Christ,)  but  they  are  voices  crying 
in  this  wilderness,  to  bid  us  prepare  ;  for  the  kingdom 
of  God,  our  true  rest,  is  at  hand.  Therefore  to  rest 
here  were  to  turn  all  mercies  clean  contrary  to  their 
own  ends,  and  our  own  advantages,  and  to  destroy  our- 
selves with  that  which  should  help  us. 

3.  Consider,  whether  it  be  not  the  most  probable  way 
to  cause  God  either,  first,  to  deny  those  mercies  which 
we  desire  ;  or,  secondly,  to  take  from  us  these  which 
we  enjoy ;  or,  thirdly,  to  imbitter  them,  or  curse  them, 
to  us  ?     Certainly  God  is  nowhere  so  jealous  as  here 


223  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

if  you  had  a  servant  whom  your  wife  loved  better  than 
she  did  yourself,  would  you  not  take  it  ill  of  such  a 
wife,  and  rid  your  house  of  such  a  servant  ?  Why,  so 
if  the  Lord  see  you  begin  to  settle  in  the  world,  and  say, 
Here  I  will  rest,  no  wonder  if  he  soon  in  his  jealousy 
unsettle  you.  If  he  love  you,  no  wonder  if  he  take  that 
from  you  wherewith  he  sees  you  about  to  destroy  your- 
selves. 

It  hath  been  long  my  observation  of  many,  that  when 
they  have  attempted  great  works,  and  have  just  finished 
them  ;  or  have  aimed  at  great  things  in  the  world,  and 
have  just  obtained  them  ;  or  have  lived  in  much  trouble, 
and  just  come  to  begin  with  some  content  to  look  upon 
their  condition,  and  rest  in  it,  they  are  near  to  death  and 
ruin.  When  a  man  is  once  at  this  language,  "  Soul, 
take  thy  ease  ;"  the  next  news  usually  is,  "  Thou  fool, 
this  night,"  or  this  month,  or  this  year,  "  shall  thy  soul 
be  required  of  thee,  and  then  whose  shall  these  things 
be  ?"  O  what  house  is  there  where  this  fool  dwelleth 
not?  Let  you  and  I  consider,  whether  this  be  not  our 
own  case.  Have  not  I  after  such  an  unsettled  life,  and 
after  so  many  longings  and  prayers  for  these  days, 
have  not  I  thought  of  them  with  too  much  content,  and 
been  ready  to  say,  "  Soul,  take  thy  rest  ?"  Have  not  I 
comforted  myself  more  in  the  forethoughts  of  enjoying 
these,  than  of  coming  to  heaven  and  enjoying  God? 
What  wonder,  then,  if  God  cut  me  ofi*when  I  am  just 
sitting  down  in  this  supposed  rest  ?  And  hath  not  the 
like  been  your  condition  ?  Many  of  you  have  been  sol- 
diers, driven  from  house  and  home,  endured  a  life  of 
trouble  and  blood,  been  deprived  of  ministry  and  means: 
did  you  not  reckon  up  all  the  comforts  you  should  have 
at  your  return  ;  and  glad  your  hearts  with  such  thoughts 
more  than  with  the  thoughts  of  your  coming  to  heaven? 
Why,  what  wonder  if  God  now  cross  you,  and  turn 
some  of  your  joy  into  sadness  ?  Many  a  servant  of 
God  hath  been  destroyed  from  the  earth  by  being  over- 
valued and  overloved.  I  pray  God  you  may  take  warn- 
ing for  the  time  to  come,  that  you  rob  not  yourselves 
of  all  your  mercies.  I  am  persuaded  our  discontents 
and  murmurings  are  not  so  provoking  to  God,  nor  so 
destructive  to  the  sinner,  as  our  too  sweet  enjoying,  and 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  233 

rest  of  spirit,  in  a  pleasing  state.  If  God  hath  crossed 
any  of  you  in  wife,  children,  goods,  friends,  either  by 
taking  them  from  you,  or  the  comfort  of  them,  try  whe- 
ther this  be  not  the  cause  ;  for  wheresoever  your  desires 
stop,  and  you  say.  Now  I  am  well ;  that  condition  you 
make  your  god,  and  engage  the  jealousy  of  God  against 
it.  Whether  you  be  friends  to  God  or  enemies,  you 
can  never  expect  that  God  should  suffer  you  quietly  to 
enjoy  your  idols. 

4.  Consider,  if  God  should  suffer  thee  thus  to  take  up 
thy  rest  here,  it  were  one  of  the  greatest  curses  that 
could  befall  thee  :  it  were  better  for-thee  if  thou  never 
hadst  a  day  of  ease  in  the  world  :  for  then  weariness 
might  make  thee  seek  after  true  rest.  But  if  he  should 
suffer  thee  to  sit  down  and  rest  here,  where  were  thy 
rest  when  this  deceives  thee  ?  A  restless  wretch  thou 
wouldst  be  through  all  eternity.  To  have  their  good 
things  on  the  earth,  is  the  lot  of  the  most  miserable  pe- 
rishing sinners.  Doth  it  become  Christians  then  to  ex- 
pect so  much  here?  Our  rest  is  our  heaven  :  and  where 
we  take  our  rest,  there  we  make  our  heaven :  and 
wouldst  thou  have  but  such  a  heaven  as  this  ?  It  will 
be  but  as  a  handful  of  waters  to  a  man  that  is  drowning, 
which  will  help  to  destroy,  but  not  to  save  him. 

5.  Consider,  thou  seekest  rest  where  it  is  not  to  be 
found,  and  so  wilt  lose  all  thy  labour.  I  think  I  shall 
easily  evince  this  by  these  clear  demonstrations  fol- 
lowing : — 

First,  Our  rest  is  only  in  the  full  obtaining  our  ulti- 
mate end  ;  but  that  is  riot  to  be  expected  in  this  life.  Is 
God  to  be  enjoyed  in  the  best  reformed  Church  here  as 
he  is  in  heaven  ?  You  confess  he  is  not ;  how  little  of 
God,  not  only  the  multitude  of  the  blind  world,  but 
sometimes  the  saints  themselves,  enjoy  !  And  how  poor 
comforters  are  the  best  ordinances  and  enjoyments  with- 
out God !  Should  a  traveller  take  up  his  rest  in  the 
way  ?  No,  because  his  home  is  his  journey's  end. 
When  you  have  all  that  creatures  and  means  can  afford, 
have  you  that  you  sought  for  ?  Have  you  that  you  be- 
lieve, pray,  suffer  for?  I  think  ]^'0u  dare  not  say  so. 
Why  then  do  we  once  dream  of  resting  here  ?  We  are 
like  little  children  strayed  from  home  ;  and  God  is  now 


224  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

fetching  us  home  ;  and  we  are  ready  to  turn  into  any 
house,  stay  and  play  with  every  thing  in  our  way,  and 
sit  down  on  every  green  bank,  and  much  ado  there  is  to 
get  us  home. 

Secondly,  As  we  have  not  yet  obtained  our  end,  so 
are  we  in  the  midst  of  labours  and  dangers  :  and  is 
there  any  resting  here  ?  What  painful  work  doth  lie 
upon  our  hands  !  Look  to  our  brethren,  to  our  souls, 
to  God  ;  and  what  a  deal  of  work  in  respect  of  each  of 
these  doth  lie  before  us  !  And  can  we  rest  in  our  la- 
bours? Indeed  we  may  ease  ourselves  sometimes  in 
our  troubles,  but  that  is  not  the  rest  we  are  now  speak- 
ing of ;  we  may  rest  on  earth  as  the  ark  is  said  to  rest 
in  the  midst  of  Jordan,  Josh,  iii,  13  ;  or  as  the  angels 
of  heaven  are  desired  to  turn  in,  and  rest  them  on  earth, 
Gen.  xviii,  4.  They  would  have  been  loath  to  have 
taken  up  their  dwelling  there.  Should  Israel  have  set- 
tled his  rest  in  the  wilderness  among  serpents,  and  ene- 
mies, and  weariness,  and  famine  ?  Should  Noah  have 
made  the  ark  his  home  and  been  loath  to  come  forth 
when  the  waters  were  fallen  ?  Should  the  mariner 
choose  his  dwelling  on  the  sea,  and  settle  his  rest  in  the 
midst  of  rocks,  and  sands,  and  tempests  ?  Though  he 
may  adventure  through  all  these  for  a  commodity  of 
worth,  yet  I  think  he  takes  it  not  for  his  rest.  Should 
a  soldier  rest  in  the  midst  of  fight,  when  he  is  in  the 
very  thickest  of  his  enemies  ?  And  are  not  Christians 
such  travellers,  such  mariners,  such  soldiers?  Have 
you  not  fears  within  and  troubles  without  ?  Are  we 
not  in  the  thickest  of  continual  dangers?  We  cannot 
eat,  drink,  sleep,  labour,  pray,  hear  or  confer  but  in  the 
midst  of  snares  ;  and  shall  we  sit  down  and  rest  here  ? 
O  Christian,  follow  thy  work,  look  to  thy  danger,  hold 
on  to  the  end,  Avin  the  field,  and  come  off  the  ground, 
before  you  think  of  settling  to  rest.  I  read  that  Christ, 
when  he  was  on  the  cross,  comforted  the  converted 
thief  with  this  :  "  This  day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in 
paradise  :"  but  if  he  had  oidy  comforted  him  with  tell- 
ing him  that  he  should  rest  there  on  the  cross,  would 
he  not  have  taken  it  for  derision  ?  Methinks  it  should 
be  ill  resting  in  the  midst  of  sicknesses  and  pains,  per- 
secution and  distresses ;  one  would  think  it  should  be 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  225. 

no  contented  dwelling  for  lambs  among  wolves.  I  sayv 
therefore,  to  every  one  that  thinketh  of  rest  on  earth,, 
"Arise  ye,  depart;  this  is  not  your  rest." 

6.  Consult  with   experience,  both   other  men's   and 
your  own ;  many  thousands  have  made  trial,  but  did 
ever  one  of  these  find  a  sufficient  rest  for  his  soul  on 
earth  ?     Delights  I  deny  not  but  they  have  found  ;  but 
rest  and  satisfaction  they  never  found  :  and  shall  we. 
think  to  find  that  which  never  man  could  find  before  us  ? 
Ahab's  kingdom  is  nothing  to  him  except  he  hath  also 
Nabotli's  vineyard,  and  did  that  satisfy  him  when  he 
had  obtained  it  ?     If  we  had  conquered  the  whole  world 
we  should  perhaps  do  as  Alexander,  sit  down  and  weep 
because  there  was  never  another  world  to  conquer.    Go 
ask  honour.   Is  there   rest  here?      Why  you  may   as 
well  rest  on  the  top  of  the  tempestuous  mountains  or  in 
Etna's  flames.     Ask  riches.  Is  there  rest  here  ?     Even 
such  as  is  in  a  bed  of  thorns.  Inquire  of  worldly  pleasure 
and  ease,  can  they  give  you  any  tidings  of  true  rest  ? 
Even  such  as  the  fish  in  swallowing  the  bait,  when  the 
pleasure  1.3  sweetest  death  is  the  nearest.     Such  is  the 
rest  that  all  worldly  pleasures  afford.     Go  to  learning, 
to  the  purest,  plentifulest,  powerfulest  ordinances,  or 
compass   sea   and   land   to  find   out  the  most   perfect 
Church,  and  inquire  whether  there  your  soul  may  rest? 
You  might  haply  receive  from  these  an  olive  branch  of 
hope,  as  they  are  means  to  your  rest,  and  have  relation 
to  eternity ;  but  in  regard  of  any  satisfaction  in  them- 
selves you  would  remain  as  restless  as  ever.     O  how 
well  might  all  these  answer  us  as  Jacob  did  Rachel, 
"Am  I  instead  of  God?"     So  may  the  highest  perfec- 
tions on  earth  say.  Are  we  instead  of  God  ?     Go,  take 
a  view   of  all  estates  of  men   in  the  world,  and  see 
whether  any  of  them  have  found  this  rest.     Go  to  the 
husbandman,  behold  his  endless  labours,  his  continual 
care,  and  toil,  and  weariness,  and  you  will  easily  see 
that   there  is  no  rest .  go  to  the  tradesman,  and  you 
shall  find  the   like:  if  I  should   send  you  lower  you 
would  judge  your  labour  lost:  go  to  the  painful  minis- 
ter and  there  you  will  yet  more  easily  be  satisfied  ;  for 
though  his   spending,   endless   labours   are   exceeding 
sweet,-  yet  it  is  not  because  they  are  his  rest,  but  in 
10* 


326  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

reference  o  his  people's  and  his  own  eternal  rest :  if 
you  would  ascend  to  magistracy,  and  inquire  at  the 
throne,  you  would  find  there  is  no  condition  so  restless. 
Doubtless  neither  court  nor  country,  towns  or  cities, 
shops  or  fields,  treasuries,  libraries,  solitariness,  soci- 
ety, studies,  or  pulpits  can  afibrd  any  such  thing  as 
this  rest.  If  you  could  inquire  of  the  dead  of  all  gene- 
rations, or  if  you  could  ask  the  living  through  all  do- 
minions, they  would  all  tell  you.  Here  is  no  rest ;  and  all 
mankind  may  say,  "  All  our  days  are  sorrow,  and  our 
labour  is  grief,  and  our  hearts  take  no  rest,"  Eccles. 
ii,  2.3. 

If  other  men's  experience  move  you  not,  do  but  take 
a  view  of  your  own  :  can  you  remember  the  state  that 
did  fully  satisfy  you  ?  Or  if  you  could,  will  it  prove  a 
lasting  state  ?  For  my  own  part,  I  have  run  through 
several  states  of  life,  and  though  I  never  had  the  neces- 
sities which  might  occasion  discontent,  yet  did  I  never 
find  a  settlement  for  my  soul;  and  I  believe  we  may  all 
say  of  our  rest,  as  Paul  of  our  hopes,  "  If  it  were  in 
this  life  only  we  were  of  all  men  most  miserable."  If 
then  either  Scripture  or  reason,  or  the  experience  of 
ourselves  and  all  the  world,  will  satisfy  us,  we  may  see 
there  is  no  resting  here.  And  yet  how  guilty  are  the 
generality  of  us  of  this  sin  !  How  many  halts  and  stops 
do  we  make  before  we  will  make  the  Lord  our  rest ! 
How  must  God  even  drive  us,  and  fire  us  out  of  every 
condition,  lest  we  should  sit  down  and  rest  there  !  If 
he  give  us  prosperity,  riches,  or  honour,  we  do  in  our 
hearts  dance  before  them,  as  the  Israelites  before  their 
calf,  and  say.  These  are  thy  gods,  and  conclude  it  is 
good  being  here.  If  he  imbitter  all  these  to  us  by 
crosses,  how  do  we  strive  to  have  the  cross  removed, 
and  are  restless  till  our  condition  be  sweetened  to  us, 
that  we  may  sit  down  again  and  rest  where  we  were  ! 
If  the  Lord,  seeing  our  perverseness,  shall  now  proceed 
in  the  cure,  and  take  the  creature  quite  away,  then  how 
do  we  labour,  and  care,  and  cry,  and  pray  that  God 
would  restore  it,  that  we  may  make  it  our  rest  again  ! 
And  while  we  are  deprived  of  its  enjoyment,  and  have 
not  our  former  idol,  yet  rather  than  come  to  God  we 
delight  ourselves  in  our  hopes  of  recovering  our  former 


THE   saints'   everlasting  REST.  227 

State  ;  and  as  long  as  there  is  the  least  likelihood  of  ob- 
taining it  we  make  those  very  hopes  our  rest :  if  the 
poor  by  labouring  all  their  days  have  but  hopes  of  a 
fuller  estate  when  they  are  old,  (though  a  hundred  to 
one  they  die  before  they  have  obtained  it,)  yet  do  they 
rest  themselves  on  those  expectations.  Or  if  God  doth 
take  away  both  present  enjoyments  and  all  hopes  of  re- 
covering them,  how  do  we  search  about  from  creature 
to  creature  to  find  out  something  to  supply  the  room 
and  to  settle  upon  instead  thereof !  Yea,  if  we  can  find 
no  supply  but  are  sure  we  shall  live  in  poverty,  in  sick- 
ness, in  disgrace,  ^vhile  we  are  on  earth,  yet  will  we 
rather  settle  in  this  misery,  and  make  a  rest  of  a  wretch- 
ed being,  than  we  will  leave  all  and  come  to  God. 

A  man  would  think  that  a  multitude  of  poor  people 
who  beg  their  bread,  or  can  scarce  with  their  hardest 
labour  have  sustenance  for  their  lives,  should  easily  be 
driven  from  resting  here,  and  willingly  look  to  heaven 
for  rest ;  and  the  sick  who  have  not  a  day  of  ease  or 
any  hope  of  recovery  left  them.  But  O  the  cursed 
averseness  of  our  souls  from  God !  We  will  rather  ac- 
count our  misery  our  happiness,  yea,  that  which  we 
daily  groan  under  as  intolerable,  than  we  will  take  up 
our  happiness  in  God.  If  any  place  in  hell  were  tolera- 
ble the  soul  would  rather  take  up  its  rest  there  than 
come  to  God.  Yea,  when  he  is  bringing  us  over  to  him, 
and  hath  convinced  us  of  the  worth  of  his  ways  and 
service,  the  last  deceit  of  all  is  here,  we  will  rather  set- 
tle upon  those  ways  that  lead  to  him,  and  those  ordi- 
nances that  speak  of  him,  and  those  gifts  which  flow 
from  him,  than  we  will  come  clean  over  to  himself. 

Marvel  not  that  I  speak  so  much  of  resting  in  these  ; 
beware  lest  it  prove  thy  own  case  :  I  suppose  thou  art  so 
convinced  of  the  vanity  of  riches,  and  honour,  and  plea- 
sure, that  thou  canst  more  easily  disclaim  these  :  but 
for  thy  spiritual  helps,  thou  lookest  on  these  with  less 
suspicion,  and  thinkest  thou  canst  not  delight  in  them 
too  much,  especially  seeing  most  of  the  world  despise 
them  or  delight  in  them  too  little.  But  doth  not  the  in- 
crease of  those  helps  dull  thy  longings  after  heaven?  I 
know  the  means  of  grace  must  be  loved  and  valued  ; 
and  he  that  delighteth  in  any  worldly  thing  more  than 


228  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

in  them  is  not  a  Christian  :  but  when  we  are  content 
with  duty  instead  of  God,  and  had  rather  be  at  a  sermon 
than  in  heaven  ;  and  a  member  of  a  Cliurch  here  tlian 
of  that  perfect  Church  ;  and  rejoice  in  ordinances  but 
as  they  are  a  part  of  our  earthly  prosperity  ;  this  is  a 
sad  mistake. 

So  far  rejoice  in  the  creature  as  it  comes  from  God, 
or  leads  to  him,  or  brings  thee  some  report  of  his  love  ; 
so  far  let  thy  soul  take  comfort  in  ordinances  as  God 
doth  accompany  them,  or  gives  himself  unto  thy  soul 
by  them  :  still  remembering,  when  thou  hast  even  what 
thou  dost  most  desire,  yet  this  is  not  heaven  ;  yet  these 
are  but  the  first  fruits.  It  is  not  enough  that  God  al- 
loweth  us  all  the  comfort  of  travellers,  and  accordingly 
to  rejoice  in  all  his  mercies,  but  we  must  set  up  our 
staff  as  if  w^e  Avere  at  home.  While  we  are  j^resent  in 
the  body  we  are  absent  from  the  Lord  ;  and  while  we 
are  absent  from  him  we  are  absent  from  our  rest.  If 
God  were  as  willing  to  be  absent  from  us  as  we  from 
him,  and  if  he  were  as  loath  to  be  our  rest  as  we  are 
loath  to  rest  in  him,  we  should  be  left  to  an  eternal 
restless  separation.  In  a  word,  as  you  are  sensible  of 
the  sinfulness  of  your  earthly  discontents,  so  be  you 
also  of  your  irregular  contents,  and  pray  God  to  par- 
don them  much  more.  And  above  all  the  plagues  and 
judgments  of  God,  on  this  side  of  hell,  see  that  you 
watch  and  pray  against  this,  [of  settling  anywhere 
short  of  heaven,  or  reposing  your  souls  on  any  thing 
below  God.l  Or  else,  wlien  tlie  bough  which  you  tread 
on  breaks,  and  the  things  whicli  you  rest  upon  deceive 
you,  you  will  perceive  your  labour  all  lost,  and  your 
highest  hopes  wall  make  you  ashamed.  Try  if  you  can 
persuade  Satan  to  leave  tempting,  and  the  world  to 
cease  troubling  and  seducing ;  if  you  can  bring  the 
glory  of  God  from  above,  or  remove  the  court  from 
heaven  to  earth,  and  secure  the  continuance  of  this 
through  eternity,  then  settle  yourselves  below,  and  say, 
Soul,  take  thy  rest  here  ;  but  till  then  admit  not  such  a 
thought. 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  229 

CHAPTER  II. 

M0T1"VES    TO    HEAVENLY    MINDEDNESS. 

We  have  now,  by  the  guidance  of  the  word  of  the 
Lord,  and  by  the  assistance  of  his  Spirit,  showed  you 
the  nature  of  the  rest  of  the  saints  ;  and  acquainted  you 
with  some  duties  in  relation  thereto  :  we  come  now  to 
the  close  of  all,  to  press  you  to  the  great  duty  which  I 
chiefly  intended  when  I  began  this  subject. 

Is  there  a  rest,  and  such  a  rest  remaining  for  us  ? 
Why  then  are  our  thoughts  no  more  upon  it?  Why 
are  not  our  hearts  continually  there  ?  Why  dwell  we 
not  there  in  constant  contemplation  ?  Ask  your  hearts 
in  good  earnest.  What  is  the  cause  of  this  neglect? 
Hath  the  eternal  God  provided  us  such  a  glory,  and 
promised  to  take  us  up  to  dwell  with  himself?  And  is 
not  this  worth  the  thinking  on  ?  Should  not  the  strong- 
est desires  of  our  hearts  be  after  it,  and  the  daily  de- 
lights of  our  souls  be  there  ?  Can  we  forget  and  neglect 
it!'  Wliat  is  the  matter?  Will  not  God  give  us  leave 
to  approacli  this  light  ?  Or  M'ill  he  not  suffer  our  souls 
to  taste  and  see  it?  Then  what  mean  all  his  earnest 
invitations  ?  Why  doth  he  so  condemn  our  earthly 
mindedness,  and  command  us  to  set  our  affections 
above  ?  If  the  forethoughts  of  glory  were  forbidden 
fruits,  perhaps  we  should  be  sooner  drawn  unto  them. 
Sure  I  am,  where  God  hath  forbidden  us  to  place  our 
thoughts  and  our  delights,  thither  it  is  easy  enough  to 
draw  them.  If  he  say,  Love  not  the  world,  nor  the 
things  of  the  world,  we  doat  upon  it  nevertheless.  How 
unweariedly  can  we  think  of  vanity,  and  day  after  day 
employ  our  minds  about  it !  And  have  we  no  thoughts 
of  this  our  rest  ?  How  freely  and  hoAv  frequently  can 
we  think  of  our  pleasures,  our  friends,  our  labours,  our 
flesh,  our  studies,  our  news  ;  yea,  our  very  miseries, 
our  wrongs,  our  sufferings,  and  our  fears !  But  where 
is  the  Christian  whose  heart  is  on  this  rest?  What  is 
the  matter?  Why  are  we  not  taken  up  with  the  views 
of  glory,  and  our  souls  more  accustomed  to  these  de- 
lightful meditations  ?     Are  we  so  full  of  joy  that  we 


230  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

need  no  more ;  or  is  there  no  matter  in  heaven  for  our 
joyous  thoughts ;  or  rather,  are  not  our  hearts  carnal 
and  blockish  I  Earth  will  tend  to  earth.  Had  we  more 
spirit,  it  would  be  otherwise  with  us.  As  St.  Augustine 
cast  by  Cicero's  writings,  because  they  contained  not 
the  name  of  Jesus  ;  so  let  us  humble  and  cast  down 
these  sensual  hearts  that  have  in  them  no  more  of  Christ 
and  glory.  As  we  should  not  own  our  duties  any  far- 
ther than  somewhat  of  Christ  is  in  them,  so  should  we 
no  farther  own  our  hearts:  and  as  we  should  delight  in 
the  creatures,  no  longer  than  they  have  reference  to 
Christ  and  eternity,  so  no  farther  should  we  approve  of 
our  own  hearts.  Why  did  Christ  pronounce  his  disci- 
ples' eyes  and  ears  blessed,  but  as  they  were  the  doors 
to  let  in  Christ  by  his  works  and  words  into  their  heart? 
Blessed  are  the  eyes  that  so  see,  and  the  ears  that  so 
hear,  that  the  heart  is  thereby  raised  to  this  heavenly 
frame.  Sirs,  so  much  of  your  hearts  as  is  empty  of 
Christ  and  heaven,  let  it  be  filled  with  shame  and  sor- 
row, and  not  with  ease. 

But  let  me  turn  my  reprehension  to  exhortation,  that 
you  would  turn  this  conviction  into  reformation.  And  I 
have  the  more  hope,  because  I  here  address  myself  to 
men  of  conscience  that  dare  not  wilfully  disobey  God ; 
yea,  because  to  men  whose  portion  is  there,  whose 
hopes  are  there,  and  who  have  forsaken  all  that  they 
may  enjoy  this  glory;  and  shall  I  be  discouraged  from 
persuading  such  to  be  heavenly  minded  ?  If  you  will 
not  hear  and  obey,  who  will?  Whoever  thou  art  there- 
fore that  readest  these  lines,  I  require  thee,  as  thou 
tenderest  thine  allegiance  to  the  God  of  heaven,  as  ever 
thou  hopest  for  a  part  in  this  glory,  that  thou  presently 
take  thy  heart  to  task ;  chide  it  for  its  wilful  strange- 
ness to  God  ;  turn  thy  thought  from  the  pursuit  of  vanity, 
bend  thy  soul  to  study  eternity;  habituate  thyself  to 
such  contemplations,  and  let  not  those  thoughts  be 
seldom  and  cursory,  but  settle  upon  them  ;  dwell  here, 
bathe  thy  soul  in  heaven's  delights  ;  drench  thine  affec- 
tions in  these  rivers  of  pleasure  ;  and  if  thy  backward 
soul  begin  to  flag,  and  thy  thoughts  to  fly  abroad,  call 
them  back,  hold  them  to  their  Avork,  put  them  on,  bear 
not  with  tlieir  laziness  ;  and  when  thou  hast  once  tried 


THE  saints'  everlasting  REST.  231 

this  work,  and  followed  on  till  thou  hast  got  acquainted 
Math  it,  and  kept  a  close  guard  upon  thy  thoughts  till 
they  are  accustomed  to  obey,  thou  wilt  then  tind  thyself 
in  the  suburbs  of  heaven,  and  as  it  were  in  a  new  world  ; 
thou  wilt  then  find  that  there  is  sweetness  in  the  work 
and  way  of  God,  and  that  the  life  of  Christianity  is  a 
life  of  joy:  thou  wilt  meet  with  those  abundant  conso- 
lations which  thou  hast  prayed,  and  panted,  and  groaned 
after,  and  which  so  few  Christians  obtain,  because  they 
know  not  the  way  to  them,  or  else  make  not  conscience 
of  walking  in  it. 

You  see  the  work  now  before  you ;  this,  this  is  that 
I  would  fain  persuade  you  to  practise  :  let  me  bespeak 
your  consciences  in  the  name  of  Christ,  and  command 
you  by  the  authority  I  have  received  from  Christ,  that 
you  faithfully  set  upon  this  duty,  and  fix  your  eye  more 
steadfastly  on  your  rest.  Do  not  wonder  that  I  per- 
suade you  so  earnestly  :  though  indeed  if  we  were  truly 
reasonable  men,  it  would  be  a  wonder  that  men  should 
need  so  much  persuasion  to  so  sweet  and  plain  a  duty  : 
but  I  know  the  employment  is  high,  the  heart  is  earthly, 
and  will  still  draw  back ;  the  temptations  and  hinder- 
ances  will  be  many  and  great,  and  therefore  I  fear  all 
these  persuasions  are  little  enough  :  say  not.  We  are 
unable  to  set  our  own  hearts  on  heaven,  this  must  be  the 
work  of  God  :  therefore  all  your  exhortation  is  in  vain. 
I  tell  you,  though  God  be  the  chief  disposer  of  your 
hearts,  yet  next  under  him  you  have  the  greatest  com- 
mand of  them  yourselves,  and  a  great  power  in  the  or- 
dering of  your  own  thoughts,  and  determining  your  own 
wills  :  though  without  Christ  you  can  do  nothing,  yet 
under  him  you  may  do  much,  and  must  do  much,  or 
else  you  will  be  undone  through  your  neglect :  do  your 
own  parts,  and  you  have  no  cause  to  distrust  whether 
Christ  will  do  his. 

I  will  here  lay  down  some  considerations,  which,  if 
you  will  but  deliberately  weigh  with  an  impartial  judg- 
ment, I  doubt  not  will  prove  effectual  with  your  hearts, 
and  make  you  resolve  upon  this  excellent  duty. 

1.  Consider,  a  heart  set  upon  heaven  will  be  one  of 
the  most  unquestionable  evidences  of  a  true  work  of 
saving  grace  upon  thy  soul.     Would  you  have  a  sign 


232  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

infallible,  not  from  me,  or  from  the  mouth  of  any  man, 
but  from  the  mouth  of  Jesus  Christ  himself,  which  all 
the  enemies  of  the  use  of  marks  can  lay  no  exceptions 
against?     Why  here  is  such  a  one,  Matthew  vi,   21, 
"  Where  your  treasure  is,  there  will  your  heart  be  also." 
Know  once  assuredly  where  your  heart  is,  and  you  may 
easily  know  that  your  treasure  is  there.     God  is  the 
saints'    treasure    and   happiness :    heaven   is  the   place 
where  they  fully  enjoy  him :  a  heart  therefore  set  upon 
heaven  is  no  more  but  a  heart  set  upon  God,  desiring 
this  full  enjoyment :  and  surely  a  heart  set  upon  God 
through  Christ  is  the  truest  evidence  of  saving  grace. 
External  actions  are  the  easiest  discovered  ;  but  those 
of  the  heart  are  the  surest  evidences.     When  thy  learn- 
ing will  be  no   good   preof  of  thy  grace  ;    when  thy 
knowledge,   thy   duties,    and   thy    gifts   will  fail  thee ; 
when  arguments  from  thy  tongue  and  thy  hand  may  be 
confuted  ;  then  will  this  argument  from  the  bent  of  thy 
heart  prove  thee  sincere.     Take  a  poor  Christian  ihut 
can  scarce  speak  English  about  religion,   that  hath  a 
weak  understanding,  a  failing  memory,  a  stammering 
tongue,  yet  his  heart  is  set  on  God,  he  hath  chosen  him 
for  his  portion,  his  thoughts  are  on  eternity,  his  desires 
there,  his   dwelling  there  ;  he  cries  out,  O  that  I  were 
there  !  he  takes  that  day  for  a  time  of  imprisonment, 
wherein  he  hath  not  taken  one  refreshing  view  of  eter- 
nity.    I  had  rather  die  in  this  man's  condition,  than  in 
the  case  of  him  that  hath  the  most  eminent  gifts,  and  is 
most  admired  for  parts  and   duty,  whose  heart  is  not 
taken  up  w4th  God.     The  man  that  Christ  will  find  out 
at  the  last  day,  and  condemn  for  want  of  a  wedding 
garment,   will  be  he   that  wants  this   frame   of  heart. 
The   question  will  not  then  be.   How  much  you  have 
known  or  talked ;  but  how  much  have  you  loved,  and 
where  was  your  heart  ?   Why,  then,  as  you  would  have 
a  sure  testimony  of  the  love  of  God,  and  a  sure  proof 
of  your  title  to  glory,  labour  to  get  your  hearts  above. 
God  will  acknowledge  you  love  him,  when  he  sees  your 
hearts  are  set  upon  him.    Get  but  your  hearts  once  truly 
in  heaven,   and   without  all   question,  yourselves   will 
follow.     If  sin  and  Satan  keep  not  thence  your  affec- 
tions, they  will  never  be  able  to  keep  away  your  persons. 


THE   saints'   everlasting  REST.  233 

2.  Consider,  a  heavenly  mind  is  a  joyful  mind  :  this 
is  the  nearest  and  the  truest  way  to  comfort :  and  with- 
out this  you  must  needs  be  uncomfortable.  Can  a  man 
be  at  the  fire  and  not  be  warm  ?  Or  in  the  sunshine 
and  not  have  light  ?  Can  your  heart  be  in  heaven  and 
not  have  comfort  ?  What  could  make  such  frozen,  un- 
comfortable Christians,  but  living  so  far  as  they  do 
from  heaven  ?  And  what  makes  others  so  warm  in 
comforts,  but  their  frequent  access  so  near  to  God  ! 
When  the  sun  in  the  spring  draws  near  our  part  of  the 
earth  how  do  all  things  congratulate  its  approach  !  The 
earth  looks  green,  and  casteth  off  her  mourning  habit ; 
the  trees  shoot  forth  ;  the  plants  revive  ;  the  birds  sing  ; 
the  face  of  all  things  smiles  upon  us,  and  all  the  crea- 
tures below  rejoice.  If  we  would  but  keep  these  hearts 
above  what  a  spring  would  be  within  us,  and  all  our  graces 
be  fresh  and  green  !  How  would  the  face  of  our  souls 
be  changed,  and  all  that  is  within  us  rejoice !  How 
should  we  forget  our  winter  sorrows,  and  withdraw  our 
souls  from  our  sad  retirements  !  How  early  should  we 
rise  (as  those  birds  in  the  spring)  to  sing  the  praise  of 
our  great  Creator  !  O  Christians  !  get  above  ;  believe 
it,  that  region  is  warmer  than  this  below.  Those  that 
have  been  there  have  found  it  so,  and  those  that  have 
come  thence  have  told  us  so  ;  and  I  doubt  not  but  thou 
hast  sometimes  tried  it  thyself.  I  dare  appeal  to  thy 
own  experience  :  When  is  it  that  you  have  largest  com- 
forts ?  Is  it  not  after  such  an  exercise  as  this,  when 
thou  hast  got  up  thy  heart,  and  conversed  with  God, 
and  talked  with  ttie  inhabitants  of  the  higher  world, 
and  viewed  the  mansions  of  the  saints  and  angels,  and 
filled  thy  soul  with  the  forethoughts  of  glory  ?  If  thou 
k newest  by  experience  what  this  practice  is,  I  dare  say 
thou  knowest  what  spiritual  joy  is.  If  it  be  the  counte- 
nance of  God  that  fills  us  with  joy,  then  they  that  most 
behold  it  must  be  fullest  of  these  joys.  If  you  never 
tried  this,  nor  lived  this  life  of  heavenly  contemplation, 
I  never  wonder  that  you  walk  uncomfortably,  and  know 
not  what  the  joy  of  the  saints  means  :  can  you  have 
comforts  from  God,  and  never  think  of  him?  Can  heaven 
rejoice  you  when  you  do  not  remember  it?  Doth  any 
thing  in  the  world  glad  you  when  you  think  not  on  it  ? 


234  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

Whom  should  we  blame,  then,  that  we  are  so  void  of 
consolation,  but  our  own  negligent  unskilful  hearts? 
God  hath  provided  us  a  crown  of  glory,  and  promised 
to  set  it  shortly  on  our  heads,  and  we  will  not  so  much 
as  think  of  it :  he  holdeth  it  out  to  us,  and  biddeth  us 
behold  and  rejoice,  and  we  will  not  so  much  as  look 
at  it.  What  a  perverse  course  is  this,  both  against  God 
and  our  own  joys  I 

I  confess,  though  in  fleshly  things  the  presenting  a 
comforting  object  is  suflicient  to- produce  an  answerable 
delight,  yet  in  spirituals  we  are  more  disabled;  God 
must  give  the  joy  itself,  as  well  as  afford  us  matter  for 
joy  :  but  yet  withal,  it  must  be  remembered  that  God 
doth  work  upon  us  as  men,  and  in  a  rational  way  doth 
raise  our  comforts ;  he  enableth  and  exciteth  us  to 
mind  these  delightful  objects,  and  from  thence  to  gather 
our  own  comforts  ;  therefore  he  that  is  most  skilful  and 
painful  in  this  gathering  art  is  usually  the  fullest  of  the 
spiritual  sweetness.  It  is  by  believing  that  we  are  filled 
with  joy  and  peace,  and  no  longer  than  we  continue  our 
believing.  It  is  in  hope  that  the  saints  rejoice,  yea,  in 
this  hope  of  the  glory  of  God ;  and  no  longer  than  they 
continue  hoping.  And  here  let  me  warn  you  of  a  dan- 
gerous snare,  an  opinion  which  will  rob  you  of  all  your 
comfort:  some  think  if  they  should  thus  fetch  in  their 
own  by  believing  and  hoping,  and  work  it  out  of  Scrip- 
ture promises  by  their  own  thinking  and  studying,  then 
it  would  be  a  comfort  only  of  their  own  hammering  out, 
(as  they  say,)  and  not  the  genuine  joy  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  A  desperate  mistake,  raised  upon  a  ground 
that  would  overthrow  almost  all  duty  as  well  as  this, 
which  is  their  setting  the  workings  of  God's  Spirit  and 
their  own  spirits  in  opposition,  when  their  spirits  must 
stand  in  subordination  to  God's  :  they  are  conjunct 
causes,  co-operating  to  the  producing  of  one  and  the 
same  effect.  God's  Spirit  worketh  our  comforts  by 
setting  our  own  spirits  at  work  upon  the  promises,  and 
raising  our  thoughts  to  the  place  of  our  comforts.  As 
you  would  delight  a  covetous  man  by  showing  him 
money,  or  a  voluptuous  man  with  fleshly  delights,  so 
God  useth  to  delight  his  people  by  taking  them,  as  it 
were,  by  the  hand,  and  leading  them  into  heaven,  and 


THE   saints'    everlasting    REST.  235 

showing  them  himself  and  their  rest  with  him.  God 
useth  not  to  cast  in  our  joys  while  we  are  idle  or  taken 
up  with  other  things.  It  is  true,  he  sometimes  doth  it 
suddenly,  but  usually  in  the  aforesaid  order  :  and  his 
sometimes  sudden,  extraordinary  casting  of  comforting 
thoughts  in  our  hearts  should  be  so  far  from  hindering 
endeavours  in  a  meditating  way  that  it  should  be  a 
singular  motive  to  quicken  us  to  it,  even  as  a  taste 
given  us  of  some  cordial  will  make  us  desire  and  seek 
the  rest;  God  feedeth  not  saints  as  birds  do  their 
young,  bringing  it  to  them,  and  putting  it  in  their 
mouth,  while  they  lie  still  in  the  nest,  and  only  gape  to 
receive  it :  but  as  he  giveth  to  man  the  fruits  of  the 
earth,  the  increase  of  our  land  in  corn  and  wine,  while 
we  plough,  and  sow,  and  weed,  and  water,  and  dung, 
and  dress,  and  then  with  patience  expect  his  blessing  ; 
so  doth  he  give  the  joys  of  the  soul.  Yet  I  deny  not 
that  if  any  should  think  so  to  work  out  his  own  com- 
forts by  meditation,  as  to  attempt  the  work  in  his  own 
strength,  the  work  would  prove  to  be  like  the  work- 
man, and  the  comfort  he  would  gather  would  be  like 
both ;  even  mere  vanity ;  even  as  the  husbandman's 
labour  without  the  sun,  and  rain,  and  blessing  of  God. 
So  then  you  may  easily  see  that  close  meditation  on 
the  matter  and  cause  of  your  joy  is  God's  way  to  pro- 
cure solid  joy.  For  my  part,  if  I  should  find  my  joy 
of  another  kind  I  should  be  very  prone  to  doubt  of  its 
sincerity.  If  I  find  a  great  deal  of  comfort  and  know 
not  how  it  came,  nor  upon  what  rational  ground  it  was 
raised,  nor  what  considerations  feed  and  continue  it,  I 
should  be  ready  to  question  whether  this  be  from  God. 
Our  love  to  God  should  not  be  like  that  of  fond  lovers, 
who  love  violently,  but  they  know  not  why.  I  think  a 
Christian's  joy  should  be  rational  joy,  and  not  to  re- 
joice and  know  not  why.  In  some  extraordinary  case 
God  may  cast  in  such  an  extraordinary  kind  of  joy :  yet 
it  is  not  his  usual  way.  And  if  you  observe  the  spirit 
of  most  uncomfortable  Christians  you  will  find  the  rea- 
son to  be  their  expectation  of  such  kind  of  joys  :  and 
accordingly  are  their  spirits  variously  tossed,  and  in- 
constantly tempered  :  when  they  meet  with  such  joys 
then  they  are  cheerful  and  lifted  up ;  but  because  these 


236  tHE  saints'  everxasting  rest. 

are  usually  short  lived,  therefore  they  are  straight  as 
low  as  hell.  And  thus  they  are  tossed  as  a  vessel  at 
sea,  up  and  down,  but  still  in  extremes  :  whereas,  alas  ! 
God  is  most  constant,  Christ  the  same,  heaven  the  same, 
and  the  proniise  the  same  ;  and  if  we  took  the  right 
course  for  fetching  in  our  comfort  from  these,  sure  our 
comforts  would  be  more  settled  and  constant,  though 
not  always  the  same.  Whoever  thou  art  therefore  that 
readest  these  lines,  I  entreat  thee,  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord,  and  as  thou  vainest  the  life  of  constant  joy,  and 
that  good  conscience  which  is  a  continual  feast,  that 
thou  wouldst  seriously  set  upon  this  work,  and  learn 
the  art  of  heavenly  mindedness,  and  thou  shalt  find  the 
increase  a  hundredfold,  and  the  benefit  abundantly  ex- 
ceed thy  labour. 

3.  Consider,  a  heart  in  heaven  will  be  a  most  excel- 
lent preservative  against  temptations,  and  a  powerful 
means  to  save  the  conscience  from  the  wounds  of  sin  : 
God  can  prevent  our  sinning,  though  we  be  careless,  and 
sometimes  doth  ;  but  this  is  not  his  usual  course  ;  nor 
is  this  our  safest  way  to  escape.  When  the  mind  is 
either  idle  or  ill  employed  the  devil  needs  not  a  greater 
advantage  :  if  he  find  but  the  mind  empty  there  is  room 
for  any  thing  that  he  will  bring  in ;  but  when  he  finds 
the  heart  in  heaven  what  hope  that  his  motions  should 
take  ?  Let  him  entice  to  any  forbidden  course  the  soul 
will  return  Nehemiah's  answer,  "  I  am  doing  a  great 
work,  and  cannot  come,"  Neh.  vi,  3.  Several  ways 
will  this  preserve  us  against  temptation.  First,  By  keep- 
ing the  heart  employed.  Secondly,  By  clearing  the  un- 
derstanding, and  confirming  the  will.  Thirdly,  By  pre- 
possessing the  affections.  Fourthly,  By  keeping  us  in 
the  way  of  God's  blessing. 

First,  By  keeping  the  heart  employed.  When  we 
are  idle  we  tempt  the  devil  to  tempt  us,  as  it  is  an  en- 
couragement to  a  thief  to  see  your  doors  open  and  no- 
body within  ;  and  as  we  used  to  say,  "  Careless  per- 
sons make  thieves  ;"  so  it  will  encourage  Satan  to  find 
your  hearts  idle  :  but  when  the  heart  is  taken  up  with 
God  it  cannot  have  time  to  hearken  to  temptations ;  it 
cannot  have  time  to  be  lustful  and  wanton,  ambitious 
or  worldly. 


EVERLASTING   REST.  237 

If  you  were  but  busied  in  your  lawful  railings  you 
would  not  be  so  ready  to  hearken  to  temptations  :  much 
less  if  you  were  busied  above  with  God.  Will  you 
leave  your  plough  and  harvest  in  the  field  ?  Or  leave 
the  quenching  of  a  fire  in  your  houses  to  run  hunting 
of  butterflies  ?  Would  a  judge  rise,  when  he  is  sitting 
upon  life  and  death,  to  go  and  play  among  the  boys  in 
the  streets  ?  No  more  will  a  Christian,  when  he  is  busy 
with  God,  give  ear  to  the  alluring  charms  of  Satan. 
The  love  of  God  is  never  idle ;  it  worketh  great  things 
where  it  truly  is;  and  Avhen  it  will  not  work  it  is  not 
love.  Therefore,  being  still  thus  working,  it  is  still 
preserving. 

Secondly,  A  heavenly  mind  is  freest  from  sin  because 
it  is  of  clearest  understanding  in  spiritual  matters.  A 
man  that  is  much  in  conversing  above  hath  truer  and 
livelier  apprehensions  of  things  concerning  God  and 
his  soul  than  any  reading  or  learning  can  beget :  though 
perhaps  he  may  be  ignorant  in  divers  controversies,  and 
matters  that  less  concern  salvation,  yet  those  truths  which 
must  establish  his  soul,  and  preserve  him  from  temptation, 
he  knows  far  better  than  the  greatest  scholars  ;  he  hath 
so  deep  an  insight  into  the  evil  of  sin,  the  vanity  of 
the  creature,  the  brutishness  of  sensual  delights,  that 
temptations  have  little  power  on  him  ;  for  these  earthly 
vanities  are  Satan's  baits,  which  with  the  clear-sighted 
have  lost  their  force.  "  In  vain,"  saith  Solomon,  "  the 
net  is  spread  in  the  sight  of  any  bird."  And  in  vain  doth 
Satan  lay  his  snares  'to  entrap  the  soul  that  plainly  sees 
them.  When  the  heavenly  mind  is  above  with  God  he 
may  from  thence  discern  every  danger  that  lies  below  : 
nay,  if  he  did  not  discover  the  snare  yet  were  he  likelier 
far  to  escape  it  than  any  others.  A  net  or  bait  that  is  laid 
on  the  ground  is  unlikely  to  catch  the  bird  that  flies  in 
the  air  ;  while  she  keeps  above  she  is  out  of  the  dan- 
ger, and  the  higher  the  safer ;  so  it  is  with  us.  Satan's 
temptations  are  laid  on  the  earth ;  earth  is  the  place, 
and  earth  is  the  ordinary  bait :  how  shall  these  ensnare 
the  Christian,  who  hath  left  the  earth,  and  walks  with 
God? 

Do  you  not  sensibly  perceive  that  when  your  hearts 
are  seriously  fixed  on  heaven  you  become  wiser  than 


238  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

before  ?  Are  not  your  understandings  more  solid  ;  and 
your  thoughts  more  sober  ?  Have  you  not  truer  appre- 
hensions of  things  than  you  had  ?  For  my  own  part, 
if  ever  I  be  wise,  it  is  when  I  have  been  much  above, 
and  seriously  studied  the  life  to  come :  methinks  I  find 
mv  understanding  after  such  contemplations  as  much  to 
differ  from  what  it  was  before,  as  I  before  differed  from 
a  fool  or  an  idiot :  when  my  understanding  is  weakened 
and  befooled  with  common  employment,  and  with  con- 
versing long  with  the  vanities  below,  methinks  a  few 
sober  thoughts  of  my  Father's  house,  and  the  blessed 
provision  of  his  family  in  heaven,  doth  make  me  (with 
the  prodigal)  to  come  to  myself  again.  Surely,  when 
a  Christian  withdraws  himself  from  his  earthly  thoughts, 
and  begins  to  converse  with  God  in  heaven,  he  is  a  Ne- 
buchadnezzar, taken  from  the  beasts  of  the  field  to  the 
throne,  and  his  understanding  returneth  to  him  again. 
O  when  a  Christian  hath  had  but  a  glimpse  of  eternity, 
and  then  looks  down  on  the  world  again,  how  doth  he 
say  to  his  laughter.  Thou  art  mad  I  and  to  his  vain 
mirth.  What  dost  thou  ?  How  could  he  even  tear  his 
flesh,  and  take  revenge  on  himself  for  his  folly !  How 
verily  doth  he  think  that  there  is  no  man  in  bedlam  so 
mad  as  wilful  sinners,  and  lazy  betrayers  of  their  own 
souls,  and  unworthy 'slighters  of  Christ  and  glory  ! 

Do  you  not  think  (except  men  are  stark  devils)  that 
it  w^ould  be  a  harder  matter  to  entice  a  man  to  sin  when 
he  lies  a  dying,  than  it  was  before?  If  the  devil,  or 
his  instruments,  should  then  tell  him  of  a  cup  of  sack, 
of  merry  company,  or  of  a  stage  play,  do  you  think  he 
would  then  be  so  taken  with  the  motion  1  If  he  should 
then  tell  him  of  riches,  or  honours,  or  show  him  cards, 
or  dice,  or  a  whore,  would  the  temptation  (think  you) 
be  as  strong  as  before  ?  Would  he  not  answer,  Alas  ! 
what  is  all  this  to  me,  who  must  presently  appear  be- 
fore God,  and  give  account  of  all  my  life,  and  straight- 
way be  in  another  world  ?  Why,  if  the  apprehension 
of  the  nearness  of  eternity  will  work  such  strange 
effects  upon  the  ungodly,  and  make  them  wiser  than  to 
be  deceived  so  easily  as  they  were  wont  to  be  in  time 
of  health  ;  what  effects  would  it  work  in  thee,  if  thou 
couldst  always  dwell  in  the  views  of  God,  and  in  lively 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  239 

thoughts  of  thine  everlasting  state  ?  Surely,  a  believer, 
if  he  improve  his  faith,  may  have  truer  apprehensions 
of  the  life  to  come,  in  the  time  of  his  health,  than  an 
unbeliever  hath  at  the  hour  of  his  death. 

Thirdly,  A  heavenly  mind  is  fortified  against  tempta- 
tions, because  the  affections  are  prepossessed  with  the 
delights  of  another  world.  When  the  soul  is  not  affected 
with  good,  though  the  understanding  never  so  clearly 
apprehend  the  truth,  it  is  easy  for  Satan  to  entice  that 
soul.  Mere  speculations  (be  they  never  so  true)  which 
sink  not  into  the  aflections,  are  poor  preservatives 
against  temptations.  He  that  loves  most,  and  not  he 
that  knows  most,  will  easiest  resist  the  motions  of  sin. 
There  is  in  a  Christian  a  kind  of  spiritual  taste,  whereby 
he  knows  these  things,  beside  his  mere  reasoning 
power :  the  will  doth  as  sweetly  relish  goodness,  as  the 
understanding  doth  truth ;  and  here  lies  much  of  a 
Christian's  strength.  If  you  should  dispute  with  a  sim- 
ple man,  and  labour  to  persuade  him  that  sugar  is  not 
sweet,  or  that  wormwood  is  not  bitter,  perhaps  you 
might  with  sophistry  overargue  his  mere  reason,  but 
yet  you  could  not  persuade  him  against  his  sense ; 
whereas  a  man  that  hath  lost  his  taste  is  easier  deceived 
for  all  his  reason.  So  it  is  here.  When  thou  hast  had 
a  fresh  delightful  taste  of  heaven,  thou  wilt  not  be  so 
easily  persuaded  from  it ;  you  cannot  persuade  a  very 
child  to  part  with  his  apple  while  the  taste  of  its  sweet- 
ness is  yet  in  its  mouth. 

O  that  you  would  be  persuaded  to  be  much  in  feeding 
on  the  hidden  manna,  and  to  be  frequently  tasting  the 
delights  of  heaven  !  It  is  true,  it  is  a  great  way  off  from 
our  sense,  but  faith  can  reach  as  far  as  that.  How 
would  this  raise  thy  resolutions,  and  make  thee  laugh  at 
the  fooleries  of  the  world,  and  scorn  to  be  cheated  with 
such  childish  toys  !  What  if  the  devil  had  set  upon 
Paul  when  he  was  in  the  third  heaven  ?  Could  he  then 
have  persuaded  his  heart  to  the  pleasures,  or  profits,  or 
honours,  of  the  world?  Though  the  Israelites  below 
may  be  enticed  to  idolatry,  and  from  eating  and  drink- 
ing to  rise  up  to  play ;  yet  Moses  in  the  mount  with 
God  will  not  do  so  :  and  if  they  had  been  where  he  was, 
and  had  but  seen  what  he  there  saw,  perhaps  they  would 


240  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

not  so  easily  have  sinned.  O  if  we  could  keep  our 
souls  continually  delighted  with  the  sweetness  above, 
with  w^hat  disdain  should  we  spit  out  the  baits  of  sin  ! 

Fourthly,  While  the  heart  is  set  on  heaven,  a  man  is 
under  Gocl's  protection  :  and  therefore  if  Satan  then  as- 
sault him,  God  is  more  engaged  for  his  defence. 

Let  me  entreat  thee,  then,  if  thou  be  a  man  that  is 
haunted  with  temptation,  (as  doubtless  thou  art,  if  thou 
be  a  man,)  if  thou  perceive  thy  danger,  and  wouldst  fain 
escape  it,  use  much  this  powerful  remedy :  keep  close 
with  God  by  a  heavenly  mind  ;  and  when  the  temptation 
comes,  go  straight  to  Heaven,  and  turn  thy  thoughts  to 
higher  things  ;  thou  shalt  find  this  a  surer  help  than  any 
other.  Follow  your  business  above  with  Christ,  and 
keej)  your  thoughts  to  their  heavenly  employment,  and 
you  sooner  will  this  way  vanquish  the  temptation  than 
if  you  argued  or  talked  it  out  with  the  tempter. 

4.  Consider,  the  diligent  keeping  of  your  hearts  on 
heaven  will  preserve  the  vigour  of  all  your  graces,  and 
put  life  into  your  duties.  It  is  the  heavenly  Christian 
that  is  the  lively  Christian  :  it  is  our  strangeness  to  hea- 
ven that  makes  us  so  dull:  it  is  the  end  that  quickens 
all  the  means  ;  and  the  more  frequently  and  clearly  this 
end  is  beheld,  the  more  vigorous  will  all  our  motions 
be.  How  doth  it  make  men  unweariedly  labour,  and 
fearlessly  venture,  when  they  do  but  think  of  the  gain- 
ful prize  !  How  will  the  soldier  hazard  his  life,  and  the 
mariner  pass  through  storms  and  waves  !  How  cheer- 
fully do  they  compass  sea  and  land  when  they  think  of 
an  uncertain  perishing  treasure !  O  what  life  then 
would  it  put  into  a  Christian's  endeavours,  if  he  would 
frequently  think  of  his  everlasting  treasure  !  We  run 
so  sloM^ly,  and  strive  so  lazily,  because  we  so  little  mind 
the  prize.  W^hen  a  Christian  hath  been  tasting  the  hid- 
den manna,  and  drinking  of  the  streams  of  the  paradise 
of  God,  what  life  doth  this  put  into  him  !  How  fervent 
will  his  spirit  be  in  prayer,  when  he  considers  that  he 
prays  for  no  less  than  heaven  ! 

Observe  but  the  man  who  is  much  in  heaven,  and  you 
shall  see  he  is  not  like  others;  there  is  somewhat  of  that 
which  he  hath  seen  above  appeareth  in  all  his  duty  and 
conversation  :  nay,  take  but  the  same  man  immediately 


THE   SAINTS     EVERLASTING   REST.  '     241 

when  he  is  returned  from  these  views  of  bliss,  and  you 
may  easily  perceive  he  excels  himself.  If  he  be  a 
preacher,  how  heavenly  are  his  sermons  !  What  clear 
descriptions,  what  high  expressions  hath  he  of  that  rest ! 
If  he  be  a  private  Christian,  what  heavenly  conference, 
what  heavenly  prayers,  what  a  heavenly  carriage,  hath 
he  !  May  you  not  even  hear  in  a  preacher's  sermons,  oi 
in  the  private  duties  of  another,  when  they  have  been 
most  above?  When  Moses  had  been  with  God  in  the 
mount,  it  made  his  face  shine,  that  the  people  could  not 
could  not  behold  him.  If  you  would  but  set  upon  this 
employment,  even  so  it  would  be  Avith  you  :  men  would 
see  the  face  of  your  conversation  shine,  and  say, 
"Surely  he  hath  been  with  God  !" 

It  is  true,  a  heavenly  nature  goes  before  this  heavenly 
employment ;  but  yet  the  work  will  make  it  more  hea- 
venly :  there  must  be  life,  before  we  can  feel  :  but  our 
life  is  continued  and  increased  by  feeding.  Therefore, 
let  me  inform  thee,  if  thou  lie  complaining  of  deadness 
and  dulness,  that  thou  canst  not  love  Christ,  nor  rejoice 
in  his  love;  that, thou  hast  no  life  in  prayer,  nor  any 
other  duty,  and  yet  never  triedst  this  quickening  course, 
or  at  least  art  careless  and  inconstant  in  it ;  thou  art  the 
cause  of  thy  own  complaints ;  thou  dullest  thine  own 
heart ;  thou  deniest  thvself  that  life  which  thou  talkest 
of.  Is  not  "  thy  life  hid  with  Christ  in  God  ?"  Whither 
must  thou  go  but  to  Christ  for  it  ?  And  whither  is  that, 
but  to  heaven,  where  he  is?  "Thou  wilt  not  come  to 
Christ  that  thou  mayest  have  life."  If  thou  wouldst 
have  light  and  heat,  why  art  thou  then  no  more  in  the 
sunshine  ?  If  thou  wouldst  have  more  of  that  grace 
which  flows  from  Christ,  why  art  thou  no  more  with 
Christ  for  it  ?  Thy  strength  is  in  heaven,  and  thy  life 
in  heaven,  and  there  thou  must  daily  fetch  it,  if  thou  wilt 
have  it.  For  want  of  this  recourse  to  heaven,  thy  soui 
is  as  a  candle  that  is  not  lighted,  and  thy  duties  as  a  sa- 
crifice which  hath  no  fire.  Fetch  one  coal  daily  from 
this  altar,  and  see  if  thy  offering  will  not  burn.  Light 
thy  candle  at  this  flame,  and  feed  it  daily  with  oil  from 
hence,  and  see  if  it  will  not  gloriously  shine  :  keep  close 
to  this  reviving  fire,  and  sec  if  thy  affections  will  not  be 
warm.     Thou  bewailcst  thy  want  of  love  to  God  ;  (and 

ii 


342  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

well  thou  mayest,  for  it  is  a  heinous  crime,  a  killing 
sin  ;)  why,  lift  up  thy  eye  of  faith  to  Heaven,  behold  his 
beauty,  contemplate  his  excellences,  and  see  whether 
his  amiableness  will  not  fire  thy  affections,  and  his  good- 
ness ravish  thy  heart.  As  the  eye  doth  incense  the  sen- 
sual affections,  by  gazing  on  alluring  objects  ;  so  doth 
the  eye  of  faith  in  meditation  inflame  our  affections  to- 
ward our  Lord,  by  gazing  on  that  highest  beauty.  Who- 
ever thou  art,  that  art  a  stranger  to  this  employment,  be 
thy  parts  and  profession  ever  so  great,  let  me  tell  thee, 
thou  spend  est  thy  life  but  in  trifling  or  idleness ;  thou 
seemest  to  live,  but  thou  art  dead.  I  may  say  of  thee, 
as  Seneca  of  idle  Vacia,  "  Sci,  latere,  vivere,  nestis ;" 
thou  knowest  how  to  lurk  in  idleness,  but  how  to  live 
thou  knowest  not.  And  as  the  same  Seneca  would  say, 
when  he  passed  by  that  sluggard's  dwelling,  "  Ibi  situs 
est  Vacia  ;"  so  it  may  be  said  of  thee,  there  lies  such  a 
one,  but  not,  there  lives  such  a  one,  for  thou  spendest 
thy  days  liker  to  the  dead  than  the  living.  One  of  Dra- 
co's laws  to  the  Athenians  was,  that  he  who  was  con- 
victed of  idleness,  should  be  put  to  death  ;  thou  dost  exe- 
cute this  on  thy  own  soul,  while  by  thy  idleness  thou 
destroyest  its  life. 

Thou  mayest  many  other  ways  exercise  thy  parts,  but 
this  is  the  vv^ay  to  exercise  thy  graces  :  they  are  come 
from  God  as  their  fountain,  and  lead  to  God  as  their 
end,  and  are  exercised  on  God  as  their  chief  object :  so 
that  God  is  their  all  in  all.  From  heaven  they  come, 
and  to  heaven  they  will  direct  and  move  thee.  And  as 
exercise  maintaineth  appetite,  strength,  and  liveliness  to 
the  body  ;  so  doth  it  also  to  the  soul.  Use  limbs,  and 
have  limhs,  is  the  known  proverb  ;  and  use  grace  and 
spiritual  life  in  these  heavenly  exercises,  and  you  shall 
find  it  quickly  cause  their  increase.  The  exercise  of 
your  mere  abilities  of  speech  will  not  much  advantage 
your  graces  ;  but  the  exercise  of  these  heavenly  gifts 
will  inconceivably  help  the  growth  of  both  :  for  as  the 
moon  is  then  most  full  and  glorious,  when  it  doth  most 
directly  face  the  sun  ;  so  will  your  souls  be  both  in  gifts 
and  graces  when  you  most  nearly  view  the  face  of  God. 
This  will  feed  your  tongue  with  matter,  and  make  you 
abound  and  overflow,  both  in  preaching,  praying,  and 


THE   SAINTS     EVERLASTING  REST.  243 

conferring.  Besides,  the  fire  which  you  fetch  from  hea- 
ven for  your  sacrifices,  is  no  false  or  strange  fire.  As 
your  liveliness  will  be  much  more,  so  will  it  be  also  more 
sincere. 

The  zeal  which  is  kindled  by  your  meditations  on 
heaven  is  most  like  to  prove  a  heavenly  zeal ;  and  the 
liveliness  of  the  spirit  which  you  fetch  from  the  face  of 
God  must  needs  be  the  Divinest  life.  Some  men's  fer- 
vency is  drawn  only  from  their  books,  and  some  from 
stinging  afiiiction,  and  some  from  the  mouth  of  a  moving 
minister,  and  some  from  the  encouragement  of  an  atten- 
tive auditory :  but  he  that  knows  this  way  to  heaven, 
and  derives  it  daily  from  the  pure  fountain,  shall  have 
his  soul  revived  with  the  water  of  life,  and  enjoy  that 
quickening  which  is  the  saint's  peculiar  :  by  this  faith 
thou  mayest  offer  Abel's  sacrifice,  more  excellent  than 
that  of  common  men,  and  by  it  obtain  witness  that  thou 
art  righteous,  God  testifying  of  thy  gifts,  Heb.  xi,  4. 
When  others  are  ready,  as  Baal's  priests,  to  beat  them- 
selves, and  cut  their  flesh,  because  their  sacrifices  will 
not  burn  ;  then  if  thou  canst  get  but  the  spirit  of  Elias, 
and  in  the  chariot  of  contemplation  soar  aloft  till  thou 
approachest  near  to  the  quickening  spirit,  thy  soul  and 
sacrifice  will  gloriously  flame,  though  the  flesh  and  the 
world  should  cast  upon  them  the  water  of  all  their  en- 
mity. Say  not  now.  How  shall  we  get  so  high  ?  Or 
how  can  mortals  ascend  to  heaven  ?  For  faith  hath 
wings,  and  meditation  is  its  chariot ;  its  office  is  to  make 
absent  things  as  present.  Do  you  not  see  how  a  little 
piece  of  glass,  if  it  do  but  rightly  face  the  sun,  will  so 
contract  its  beams  and  heat  as  to  set  on  fire  that  which 
is  behind  it,  which  without  it  would  have  received  but 
little  warmth  ?  Why  thy  faith  is  as  the  burning  glass 
to  thy  sacrifice,  and  meditation  sets  it  to  face  the  sun  ; 
only  take  it  not  away  too  soon,  but  hold  it  there  awhile, 
and  thy  soul  will  feel  the  happy  eflfect. 

If  we  could  get  into  the  holy  of  holies,  and  bring 
thence  the  name  and  image  of  God,  and  get  it  closed  up 
in  our  hearts,  this  would  enable  us  to  work  wonders  ; 
every  duty  we  performed  would  be  a  wonder  ;  and  they 
that  heard  would  be  ready  to  say,  Never  man  spake  as 
this  man  speaketh.     The  Spirit  would  possess  us,' as 


244  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

those  flaming  tongues,  and  make  us  every  one  speak 
(not  in  the  variety  of  the  confounded  languages,  but)  in 
the  primitive  pure  language  of  Canaan,  the  wonderful 
works  of  God.  We  should  then  be  in  every  duty,  whe- 
ther prayer,  exhortation,  or  brotherly  reproof,  as  Paul 
was  at  Athens  ;  when  his  spirit  was  stirred  within  him  : 
and  should  be  ready  to  say,  as  Jeremiah  did,  Jer.  xx,  9, 
"  His  word  was  in  my  heart  as  a  burning  fire  shut  up  in 
my  bones  ;  and  I  was  weary  with  forbearing,  and  I  could 
not  stay." 

Christian  reader,  art  thou  not  thinking  when  thou 
seest  a  lively  believer,  and  hearest  his  melting  prayers 
and  ravishing  discourse,  O  how  happy  a  man  is  this  !  O 
that  my  soul  were  in  his  state  !  Why,  I  here  direct  and 
advise  thee  from  God.  Try  this  course,  and  set  thy 
soul  to  this  work,  and  thou  shalt  be  in  as  good  a  case. 
Wash  thee  frequently  in  this  Jordan,  and  thy  dead  soul 
shall  revive,  and  thou  shalt  know  there  is  a  God  in  Is- 
rael ;  and  that  thou  mayest  live  a  vigorous  and  joyous 
life,  if  thou  neglect  not  thine  own  mercies.  If  *thou 
truly  value  this  strong  and  active  frame  of  spirit,  show 
it  by  thy  present  attempting  this  heavenly  exercise. 
Thou  hast  heard  the  way  to  obtain  this  life  in  thy  soul, 
and  in  thy  duties ;  if  thou  wilt  yet  neglect  it,  blame 
thyself. 

But,  alas,  the  multitude  of  professors  come  to  a  minis- 
ter just  as  Naaman  came  to  Elias  ;  they  ask  us,  how  shall 
I  overcome  a  hard  heart,  and  get  the  strength  and  life 
of  grace?  But  they  expect  that  some  easy  means 
should  do  it ;  and  think  we  should  cure  them  with  the 
very  answer  to  their  question,  and  teach  them  a  way  to 
be  quickly  well :  but  when  they  hear  of  a  daily  trading 
in  heaven,  and  constant  meditation  on  the  joys  above, 
this  is  a  greater  task  than  they  expected  ;  and  they  turn 
their  backs  as  Naaman  to  Elias,  or  the  young  man  on 
Christ.  Will  not  preaching,  and  praying,  and  confer- 
ence serve,  (say  they,)  without  this  dwelling  still  in 
heaven  ?  I  entreat  thee,  reader,  beware  of  this  folly  ; 
fall  to  the  work :  the  comfort  of  spiritual  health  will 
countervail  all  the  trouble.  It  is  but  the  flesh  that  re- 
pines, which  thou  knowest  was  never  a  friend  to  thy 
soul.     If  God  had  not  set  thee  on  some  grievous  work. 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  245 

shouldst  thou  not  have  done  it  for  the  life  of  thy  soul  ? 
HoAV  much  more  when  he  doth  but  invite  thee  to 
himself? 

5.  Consider,  the  frequent  believing  views  of  gJory  are 
the  most  precious  cordial  in  all  afflictions  :  1.  To  sus- 
tain our  spirits,  and  make  our  sufferings  far  more  easy. 
2.  To  stay  us  from  repining.  And  3.  To  strengthen 
our  resolutions,  that  we  forsake  not  Christ  for  fear  of 
trouble.  A  man  will  more  quietly  endure  the  lancing  of 
his  sores,  when  he  thinks  on  the  ease  that  will  follow. 
What  then  will  not  a  believer  endure  when  he  thinks  of 
the  rest  to  which  it  tendeth  ?  What  if  the  way  be  never 
so  rough,  can  it  be  tedious  if  it  lead  to  heaven  ?  O  sweet 
sickness,  sweet  reproaches,  imprisonments,  or  death, 
which  is  accompanied  with  these  tastes  of  our  future 
rest  i  Believe  it,  thou  wilt  suffer  heavily,  thou  wilt  die 
most  sadly,  if  thou  hast  not  at  hand  the  foretastes  of  this 
rest.  Therefore  as  thou  wilt  then  be  ready  with  David 
to  pray,  "  Be  not  far  from  me,  for  trouble  is  near :"  so 
let  it  be  thy  chief  care  not  to  be  far  from  God  and  hea- 
ven when  trouble  is  near,  and  "  thou  wilt  find  him  a 
very  present  help  in  trouble." 

All  sufferings  are  nothing  to  us  so  far  as  we  have  the 
foresight  of  this  salvation.  No  bolts,  nor  bars,  nor  dis- 
tance of  place,  can  shut  out  these  supporting  joys,  be- 
cause they  cannot  confine  our  faith  and  thoughts,  al- 
though they  may  confine  our  flesh.  Christ  and  faith  are 
spiritual,  and  therefore  prisons  and  banishments  cannot 
hinder  their  intercourse.  Even  when  persecution  and 
fear  hath  shut  the  door,  Christ  can  come  in,  and  stand 
in  the  midst,  and  say,  "  Peace  be  unto  you."  It  is  not 
the  place  that  gives  the  rest,  but  the  presence  and  be- 
holding of  Christ  in  it.  If  the  Son  of  God  Avill  walk 
with  us  in  it,  we  may  walk  safely  in  the  midst  of  those 
flames  which  shall  devour  those  that  cast  us  in :  why, 
then,  keep  thy  soul  above  with  Christ ;  be  as  little  as 
may  be  out  of  his  company,  and  then  all  conditions  will 
be  alike  to  thee.  What  made  "  Moses  choose  affliction 
with  the  people  of  God,  rather  than  enjoy  the  pleasures 
of  sin  for  a  season  ?  He  had  respect  to  the  recompense 
of  reward."  Yea,  our  Lord  himself  did  fetch  his  encou- 
ragements to  sufferings  from  the  foresight  of  his  glory  : 


846  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

"For  to  this  end  he  both  died,  and  rose,  and  revived, 
that  he  might  be  Lord  both  of  the  dead  and  living," 
Rom.  xiv,  9.  "  Even  Jesus,  the  author  and  finisher  of 
our  faith,  for  the  joy  that  was  set  before  him,  endured 
the  cross,  despising  the  shame,  and  is  set  down  at  the 
right  hand  of  the  throne  of  God." 

6.  Consider,  it  is  he  that  hath  his  conversation  in 
heaven,  who  is  the  profitable  Christian  to  all  about  him: 
with  him  you  may  take  sweet  counsel,  and  go  up  to  the 
celestial  house  of  God.  When  a  man  is  in  a  strange 
country,  far  from  home,  how  glad  is  he  of  the  company 
of  one  of  his  own  nation  !  How  delightful  is  it  to  them 
to  talk  of  their  country,  of  their  acquaintance,  and  the 
affairs  of  their  home  !  Why,  with  a  heavenly  Christian 
thou  mayest  have  such  discourse ;  for  he  hath  been 
there  in  the  spirit,  and  can  tell  thee  of  the  glory  and  rest 
above.  To  discourse  with  able  men,  of  clear  under- 
standings, about  the  difficulties  of  religion,  yea,  about 
languages  and  sciences,  is  both  pleasant  and  profitable  ; 
but  nothing  to  this  heavenly  discourse  of  a  believer.  O 
how  refreshing  are  his  expressions  !  How  his  words 
pierce  the  heart !  How  they  transform  the  hearers  ! 
"  How  doth  his  doctrine  drop  as  the  rain,  and  his  speech 
distil  as  the  dew,  as  the  small  rain  upon  the  tender  herb, 
and  as  the  showers  upon  the  grass  ;  while  his  tongue  is 
expressing  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  ascribing  great- 
ness to  his  God'!"  This  is  the  man  who  is  as  Job, 
**  when  the  candle  of  God  did  shine  upon  his  head,  and 
when  by  his  light  he  walked  through  darkness  :  when 
the  secret  of  God  was  upon  his  tabernacle,  and  when  the 
Almighty  was  yet  with  him :  then  the  ear  that  heard 
him,  did  bless  him  ;  and  the  eye  that  saw  him  gave  wit- 
ness to  him,"  Job  xxix,  3,  4,  5,  11.  Happy  the  people 
that  have  a  heavenly  minister  ;  happy  the  children  and 
servants  that  have  a  heavenly  father  or  master  ;  happy 
the  man  that  hath  heavenly  associates  ;  if  they  have  but 
hearts  to  know  their  happiness.  This  is  the  companion, 
who  will  watch  over  thy  ways,  who  will  strengthen  thee 
when  thou  art  weak,  who  will  cheer  thee  when  thou  art 
drooping,  and  comfort  thee  with  the  same  comforts 
wherewith  he  hath  been  so  often  comforted  himself. 
This  is  he  that  will  be  blowing  the  spark  of  thy  spiritual 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  247 

life,  and  always  drawing  thy  soul  to  God,  and  will  be 
saying  to  thee,  as  the  Samaritan  woman,  "  Come  and 
see  one  that  hath  told  me  all  that  ever  I  did,"  one  that 
hath  ravished  my  heart  with  his  beauty,  one  that  hath 
loved  our  souls  to  the  death  :  is  not  this  the  Christ  ?  Is 
not  the  knowledge  of  God  and  him  eternal  life  ?  Is  it 
not  the  glory  of  the  saints  to  see  his  glory  ?  If  thou 
travel  with  this  man  on  the  way,  he  will  be  directing 
and  quickening  thee  in  thy  journey  to  heaven  :  if  thou 
be  buying,  or  selling,  or  trading  with  him  in  the  world, 
he  will  be  counselling  thee  to  lay  out  for  the  inestimable 
treasure  :  if  thou  wrong  him,  he  can  pardon  thee,  re- 
membering that  Christ  hath  not  only  pardoned  great 
offences  to  him,  but  will  also  give  him  this  invaluable 
portion.  This  is  the  Christian  of  the  right  stamp  ;  this 
is  the  servant  that  is  like  his  Lord  ;  these  be  the  inno- 
cent that  save  the  island,  and  all  about  them  are  the 
better  where  they  dwell.  I  fear  the  men  I  have  de- 
scribed are  very  rare,  but  were  it  not  for  our  shameful 
negligence,  such  men  might  we  all  be  ! 


CHAPTER  III. 

CONTAINING    SOME    HINDERANCES    OF    HEAVENLY    MINDEDNESS. 

As  thou  valuest  the  comforts  of  a  heavenly  conversa- 
tion, I  here  charge  thee  from  God,  to  beware  most  care- 
fully of  these  impediments  : — 

1.  The  first  is,  a  living  in  a  known  sin.  Observe 
this  : — "What  havoc  will  this  make  in  thy  soul !  O  the 
joys  that  this  hath  destroyed  !  The  blessed  communion 
with  God  that  this  hath  interrupted  !  The  ruins  it  hath 
made  among  men's  graces  !  The  duties  that  it  hath 
hindered  !  And  above  all  others,  it  is  an  enemy  to  this 
great  duty. 

I  desire  thee,  in  the  fear  of  God,  stay  here  a  little, 
and  search  thy  heart.  Art  thou  one  that  hath  used  vio- 
lence with  thy  conscience  ?  Art  thou  a  wilful  neglecter 
of  known  duties,  either  public  or  private  ?  Art  thou  a 
slave  to  thine  appetite,  in  eating  or  drinking,  or  to  any 
other  commanding  sense?     Art  thou  a  seeker  of  thine 


248  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

own  esteem,  and  a  man  that  must  needs  have  men's  good 
opinion  ?  Art  thou  a  peevish  or  a  passionate  person, 
ready  to  take  fire  at  every  word,  or  every  supposed 
slight?  Art  thou  a  deceiver  of  others  in  thy  dealing: 
or  one  that  hath  set  thyself  to  rise  in  the  world  ?  Not 
to  speak  of  greater  sins,  which  all  take  notice  of.  If 
this  by  thy  case,  I  dare  say,  heaven  and  thy  soul  are 
very  great  strangers  ;  I  dare  say  thou  art  seldom  with 
God,  and  there  is  little  hope  it  should  be  better  as  long 
as  thou  continuest  in  these  transgressions  :  these  beams 
in  thine  eye  will  not  suffer  thee  to  look  to  heaven ;  these 
will  be  a  cloud  between  thee  and  God.  How  shouldst 
thou  take  comfort  from  heaven,  who  taketh  so  much 
pleasure  in  the  lusts  of  the  flesh?  Every  wilful  sin  will 
be  to  thy  comforts  as  water  to  fire ;  when  thou  thinkest 
to  quicken  them,  this  Avill  quench  them  ;  when  thy  heart 
begins  to  draw  near  to  God,  this  will  presently  fill  thee 
with  doubting.  Besides,  it  doth  utterly  indispose  thee, 
and  disable  thee  to  this  work  :  when  thou  shouldst  wind 
up  thy  heart  to  heaven,  it  is  biased  another  way :  it  is 
entangled,  and  can  no  more  ascend  in  Divine  medita- 
tion, than  the  bird  can  fly  whose  wings  are  clipped,  or  thai 
is  taken  in  the  snare.  Sin  doth  cut  the  very  sinews  of 
the  soul ;  therefore  I  say  of  this  heavenly  life  as  Mr. 
Bolton  saith  of  prayer,  "  Either  it  will  make  thee  leave 
sinning,  or  sin  will  make  thee  leave  it,"  and  that  quick- 
ly too  :  for  these  cannot  continue  together.  If  heaven 
and  hell  can  meet  together,  then  mayest  thou  live  in  thy 
sin  and  in  the  tastes  of  glory.  If,  therefore,  thou  find 
thyself  guilty,  never  doubt  but  this  is  the  cause  that  es- 
trangeth  thee  from  heaven  ;  and  take  heed  lest  it  keep 
out  thee,  as  it  keeps  out  thy  heart.  Yea,  if  thou  be  a 
man  that  hitherto  hast  escaped,  and  knowest  no  reigning 
sin  in  thy  soul,  yet  let  this  warning  move  thee  to  pre- 
vention, and  stir  up  a  dread  of  this  danger  in  thy  spirit ; 
especially  resolve  to  keep  from  the  occasions  of  sin, 
and,  as  much  as  possible,  out  of  the  way  of  tempta- 
tions. 

2.  A  second  hinderance  carefully  to  be  avoided  is  an 
earthly  mind  ;  for  you  may  easily  conceive  that  this 
cannot  stand  with  a  heavenly  mind.  God  and  mam- 
mon, earth  and  heaven,  cannot  both  have  the  delight  of 


THE  saints'   everlasting  REST.  249 

thy  heart.  This  makes  thee  like  Anselm's  bird,  with  a 
stone  tied  to  the  foot,  which,  as  oft  as  she  took  flight, 
did  pluck  her  to  the  earth  again.  If  thou  be  a  man  that 
hast  fancied  to  thyself  some  happiness  to  be  found  on 
earth,  and  beginnest  to  taste  a  sweetness  in  gain,  and  to 
aspire  after  a  higher  estate,  and  art  driving  on  thy  de- 
sign ;  believe  it,  thou  art  marching  with  thy  back  upon 
Christ,  and  art  posting  apace  from  this'  heavenly  life. 
Hath  not  the  world  that  from  thee  which  God  hath  from 
the  believer  ?  When  he  is  blessing  himself  in  God, 
and  rejoicing  in  hope  of  the  glory  to  come,  then  thou 
art  blessing  thyself  in  thy  prosperity. 

It  may  be  thou  boldest  on  thy  course  of  duty,  and 
prayest  as  oft  as  thou  didst  before ;  it  may  be  thou 
keepcst  in  with  good  ministers,  and  with  good  men, 
and  seemest  as  forward  in  religion  as  ever  :  but  what  is 
all  this  to  the  purpose  ?  Mock  not  thy  soul,  man ;  for 
God  will  not  be  mocked.  Thine  earthly  mind  may 
consist  with  thy  common  duties  ;  but  it  cannot  consist 
with  this  heavenly  duty.  I  need  not  tell  thee  this,  if 
thou  wouldst  not  be  a  traitor  to  thy  own  soul :  thou 
knowest  thyself  how  seldom  and  cold,  how  cursory  and 
strange,  thy  thoughts  have  been  of  the  joys  hereafter, 
ever  since  thou  didst  trade  so  eagerly  for  the  world. 

Methinks  I  even  perceive  thy  conscience  stir  now, 
and  tell  thee  plainly  that  this  is  thy  case.  Hear  it, 
man  !  O  hear  it  now  ;  lest  thou  hear  it  in  another  man- 
ner, when  thou  wouldst  be  full  loath.  O  the  cursed 
madness  of  many  that  seem  to  be  religious  !  who  thrust 
themselves  into  the  multitude  of  employments,  and 
think  they  can  never  have  business  enough,  till  they 
are  so  loaded  with  labours,  and  clogged  with  cares,  that 
their  souls  are  as  unfit  to  converse  with  God  as  a  man 
to  walk  with  a  mountain  on  his  back.  And  when  all  is 
done,  and  they  have  lost  that  heaven  they  might  have 
had  upon  earth,  they  take  up  a  few  rotten  arguments  to 
prove  it  lawful,  and  then  they  think  that  they  have 
salved  all.  They  miss  not  the  pleasures  of  this  heaven- 
ly life,  if  they  can  but  quiet  their  consciences,  while 
they  fasten  upon  lower  and  baser  pleasures. 

For  thee,  O  Christian  !  who  hast  tasted  of  these  plea- 
sures, I  advise  thee,  as  thou  valuest  their  enjoyment, 
11* 


350  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

as  ever  thou  wouldst  taste  of  them  any  more,  take  heed 
of  this  gulf  of  an  earthly  mind  :  for  if  once  thou  comest 
to  this,  "  that  thou  wilt  be  rich,  thou  fallest  into  temp- 
tation, and  a  snare,  and  into  divers  foolish  and  hurtful 
lusts."  Keep  these  things  as  thy  upper  garments  still 
loose  about  thee,  that  thou  mayest  lay  them  by  when- 
ever there  is  cause  ;  but  let  God  and  glory  be  next  thy 
heart,  yea,  as  the  very  blood  and  spirit  by  which  thou 
livest :  still  remember  that  of  the  Spirit,  "  The  friend- 
ship of  the  world  is  enmity  with  God  ;  whosoever  there- 
fore will  be  a  friend  of  the  world,  is  the  enemy  of  God." 
And  "  love  not  the  world,  nor  the  things  in  the  world : 
if  any  man  love  the  world,  the  love  of  the  Father  is  not 
in  him."  This  is  plain  dealing  ;  and  happy  he  that 
faithfully  receives  it. 

3.  A  third  hindcrance  of  which  I  must  advise  thee  to 
beware  is,  the  company  of  ungodly  and  sensual  men. 
Not  that  I  would  dissuade  thee  from  necessary  con- 
verse, or  from  doing  them  any  office  of  love  :  nor  would 
I  have  thee  conclude  them  to  be  dogs  and  swine,  that  so 
thou  mayest  evade  the  duty  of  reproof ;  nor  yet  to  judge 
them  such  at  all,  before  thou  art  certain  they  are  such 
indeed. 

But  it  is  the  unnecessary  society  of  ungodly  men, 
and  familiarity  with  unprofitable  companions,  though 
they  be  not  so  apparently  ungodly,  that  I  dissuade  you 
from.  It  is  not  only  the  open  profane,  the  swearer, 
the  drunkard,  that  will  prove  hurtful  to  us;  but  dead- 
hearted  formalists,  or  persons  merely  civil,  and  moral, 
or  whose  conference  is  empty,  unsavoury,  and  barren, 
may  much  divert  our  thoughts  from  heaven.  As  mere 
idleness,  and  forgetting  God,  will  keep  a  soul  as  cer- 
tainly from  heaven,  as  a  profane,  licentious,  fleshly  life  : 
so  also  will  useless  company  as  surely  keep  our  hearts 
from  heaven,  as  the  company  of  men  more  dissolute 
and  profane.  Alas  !  our  dulness  and  backwardness  is 
such  that  we  have  need  of  the  most  constant  and  power- 
ful helps :  a  clod,  or  a  stone,  that  lies  on  the  earth  is 
as  prone  to  arise  and  fly  in  the  air,  as  our  hearts  are  to 
move  toward  heaven.  You  need  not  hold  them  from 
flying  up  to  the  skies  ;  it  is  sufficient  that  you  do  not 
help   them.     If  our  spirits  have  not  great   assistance 


THE  saints'  everlasting  REST.  261 

they  may  easily  be  kept  from  flying  aloft,  though  they 
never  should  meet  with  the  least  impediment.  O  think 
rf  this  in  the  choice  of  your  company  :  when  your 
spirits  need  no  help  to  lift  them  up,  but  as  the  flames 
you  are  always  mounting  upward,  and  carrying  with 
you  all  that  is  in  your  way,  then  you  may  indeed  be 
less  careful  of  your  company ;  but  till*  then  be  careful 
therein.  As  it  is  reported  of  a  lord  that  was  near  his 
death,  and  the  doctor  that  prayed  with  him  read  over 
the  litany  :  "  For  all  women  labouring  with  child,  for 
all  sick  persons,  and  young  children,"  6lc. — "  From 
lightning  and  tempest ;  from  plague,  pestilence,  and 
famine :  from  battle  and  murder,  and  from  sudden 
death." — "  Alas  !"  saith  he,  "  what  is  this  to  me,  who 
must  presently  die  ?"  So  mayest  thou  say  of  such 
men's  conference,  Alas  !  what  is  this  to  me,  who  must 
shortly  be  in  rest  ?  What  will  it  advantage  thee  to  a 
life  with  God,  to  hear  where  the  fair  is  such  a  day,  or 
how  the  market  goes,  or  what  weather  it  is,  or  is  like 
to  be,  or  when  the  moon  changed,  or  what  news  is  stir- 
ring ?  What  will  it  conduce  to  the  raising  thy  heart 
God  ward,  to  hear  that  this  is  an  able  minister,  or  that 
an  able  Christian,  or  that  this  was  an  excellent  sermon, 
or  that  is  an  excellent  book  ;  to  hear  a  discourse  of 
baptisms,  ceremonies,  the  order  of  God's  decrees,  or 
other  such  controversies  of  great  difficulty,  and  less 
importance  ?  Yet  this,  for  the  most  part,  is  the  sweet- 
est discourse  that  you  are  likely  to  have  of  a  formal 
dead-hearted  professor.  If  thou  hadst  newly  been 
warming  thy  heart  with  the  joys  above  would  not  this 
discourse  quickly  freeze  it  again  ?  I  appeal  to  the  judg- 
ment of  any  man  that  hath  tried  it,  and  maketh  obser- 
vations on  the  frame  of  his  spirit. 

4.  A  fourth  hinderance  to  heavenly  conversation  is, 
disputes  about  lesser  truths,  and  especially  when  a 
man's  religion  lies  only  in  his  opinions;  a  sure  sign  of 
an  unsanctified  soul.  If  sad  examples  be  regarded,  I 
need  say  the  less  upon  this.  It  is  legibly  written  in  the 
faces  of  thousands  ;  it  is  visible  in  the  complexion  of 
our  diseased  nation.  They  are  men  least  acquainted 
with  a  heavenly  life  who  are  the  violent  disputers  about 
the  circumstantials  of  religion  ;  he  whose  religion  is  all 


252  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest.        , 

in  his  opinions  will  be  most  frequently  and  zealously 
speaking  his  opinions  ;  and  he  whose  religion  lies  in 
the  knowledge  and  love  of  God  in  Christ,  of  that  time 
when  he  shall  enjoy  God  and  Christ.  As  the  body  doth 
languish  in  consuming  fevers  when  the  native  heat 
abates  within,  and  an  unnatural  heat  inflaming  the  ex- 
ternal parts  succeeds  :  so  when  the  zeal  of  a  Christian 
doth  leave  the  internals  of  religion,  and  fly  to  externals, 
or  inferior  things,  the  soul  must  needs  consume  and 
languish.  Yea,  though  you  were  sure  your  opinions 
were  true,  yet  when  the  chief  of  your  zeal  is  turned 
thither,  and  the  chief  of  your  conference  there  laid  out, 
the  life  of  grace  decays  within. 

Therefore  let  me  advise  you  that  aspire  after  this 
joyous  life,  spend  not  your  thoughts,  your  time,  your 
zeal,  or  your  speeches,  upon  quarrels  that  less  concern 
your  souls  :  but  when  others  are  feeding  on  husks  or 
shells,  or  on  this  heated  food  which  will  burn  their  lips 
far  sooner  than  warm  and  strengthen  their  hearts  ; 
then  do  you  feed  on  the  joys  above.  I  could  wish  you 
were  all  understanding  men,  able  to  defend  every  truth 
of  God ;  but  still  I  would  have  the  chief  to  be  chiefly 
studied,  and  none  to  shoulder  out  your  thoughts  of  eter- 
nity :  the  least  controverted  points  are  usually  most 
weighty,  and  of  most  necessary  use  to  our  souls. 

5.  As  you  value  the  comforts  of  a  heavenly  life,  take 
heed  of  a  proud  and  lofty  spirit.  There  is  such  an  an- 
tipathy between  this  sin  and  God,  that  thou  Vv'ilt  never 
get  thy  heart  near  him,  as  long  as  this  prevaileth  in  it. 
If  it  cast  the  angels  from  heaven  that  v/ere  in  it,  it  must 
needs  keep  thy  heart  estranged  from  it.  If  it  cast  our 
first  parents  out  of  paradise,  and  separated  between  the 
Lord  and  us,  it  must  needs  keep  our  hearts  from  para- 
dise, and  increase  the  cursed  separation  from  our  God. 
The  delight  of  God  is  an  humble  soul,  even  him  that  is 
contrite,  and  trembleth  at  his  word :  and  the  delight  of 
an  humble  soul  is  in  God  :  and  sure  where  there  is 
mutual  delight  there  will  be  freest  admittance,  and 
heartiest  welcome,  and  most  frequent  converse.  Well, 
then,  art  thou  a  man  of  worth  in  thine  own  eyes  ?  And 
very  tender  of  thine  esteem  vnih  others  ?  Art  thou  one 
that  much  vainest  applause,  and  feelest  delight  when 


THE  saints'  everlasting  rest.  253 

thou  hearest  of  thy  great  esteem  with  men  ;  and  art  de- 
jected when  thou  hearest  that  men  slight  thee  ?  Dost 
thou  loA'e  those  most  who  best  honour  thee  ;  and  doth 
thy  heart  bear  a  grudge  at  those  that  thou  thinkest  un- 
dervalue thee  ?  Wilt  thou  not  be  brought  to  shame  thy- 
self, by  humble  confession,  when  thou  hast  sinned 
against  God,  or  injured  thy  brother?  Art  thou  one 
that  honourest  the  rich  ?  And  thinkest  thyself  some- 
body if  they  value  and  own  thee;  but  lookest  strangely 
at  the  poor,  and  art  almost  ashamed  to  be  their  com- 
panion ?  Art  thou  unacquainted  with  the  deceitfulness 
and  wickedness  of  thy  heart?  Or  knowest  thyself  to 
be  vile  only  by  reading,  not  by  feeling  thy  vileness  ? 
Art  thou  readier  to  defend  thyself,  and  maintain  thine 
innocence,  than  to  accuse  thyself,  or  confess  thy  fault? 
Canst  thou  hardly  hear  a  close  reproof,  or  plain  dealing, 
without  difficulty  and  distaste  ?  Art  thou  readier  in  thy 
discourse  to  teach  than  to  learn  :  and  to  dictate  to 
others  than  to  hearken  to  their  instructions  ?  Art  thou 
bold  and  confident  of  thy  own  opinions,  and  little  sus- 
picious of  the  weakness  of  thy  understanding,  but  a 
slighter  of  the  judgment  of  all  that  are  against  thee  ?  Is 
thy  spirit  more  disposed  to  command  than  to  obey  ? 
Art  thou  ready  to  censure  the  doctrine  of  thy  teachers, 
the  actions  of  thy  rulers,  and  the  persons  of  thy  bre- 
thren? and  to  think,  if  thou  wert  a  judge,  thou  wouldst 
be  more  just ;  or  if  thou  wert  a  minister,  thou  wouldst 
be  more  fruitful  and  more  faithfui?  If  these  symptoms 
be  in  thy  heart  beyond  doubt  thou  art  a  proud  person. 
Thou  art  abominably  proud  ;  there  is  too  much  of  hell 
abiding  in  thee,  for  thee  to  have  any  acquaintance  at 
heaven  :  thy  soul  is  too  like  the  devil  to  have  any  fami- 
liarity with  God. 

I  entreat  you  be  very  jealous  of  your  souls  in  this 
point:  there  is  nothing  will  more  estrange  you  from 
God  :  I  speak  the  more  of  it,  because  it  is  the  most 
<*ommon  and  dangerous  sin,  and  most  promoting  the 
great  sin  of  infidelity  :  you  would  little  think  what  hum- 
ble carriage,  what  exclaiming  against  pride,  what  self- 
accusing,  may  stand  Avith  this  devilish  sin  of  pride.  O 
Christian,  if  thou  wouldst  live  continually  in  the  pre- 
sence of  thy  Lord,  and  lie  in  the  dust,  he  would  thence 


254  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

take  thee  up  ;  descend  first  with  him  into  the  grave, 
and  thence  thou  mayest  ascend  with  him  to  glory. 
Learn  of  him  to  be  meek  and  lowly,  and  then  thou 
mayest  taste  of  this  rest  to  thy  soul.  Thy  soul  else 
will  be  "as  the  troubled  sea,  which  cannot  rest;"  and 
instead  of  these  sweet  delights  in  God,  thy  pride  will 
fill  thee  with  perpetual  disquietude. 

6.  Another  impediment  to  this  heavenly  life  is  lazi- 
ness and  slothfulness  of  spirit :  and  I  verily  think  for 
knowing  men  there  is  nothing  hinders  more  than  this. 
If  it  were  only  the  exercise  of  the  body,  the  moving  of 
the  lips,  the  bending  of  the  knee,  then  men  would  as 
commonly  step  to  heaven,  as  they  go  a  few  miles  to 
visit  a  friend  :  yea,  if  it  were  to  spend  our  days  in  num- 
bering beads,  and  repeating  certain  words  and  prayers, 
or  in  the  outward  parts  of  duties  commanded  by  God, 
yet  it  were  comparatively  easy  :  farther,  if  it  were  only 
in  the  exercise  of  parts  and  gifts,  it  were  easier  to  be 
heavenly  minded.  But  it  is  a  work  more  difficult  than 
all  this  to  separate  our  thoughts  and  affections  from 
the  world  ;  to  draw  forth  all  our  graces  in  their  order, 
and  exercise  each  on  its  proper  object ;  to  hold  them  to 
this,  till  the  work  doth  thrive  and  prosper  in  their 
hands  ;  this  is  the  difficult  task.  Heaven  is  above  thee, 
the  way  is  upward  ;  dost  thou  think,  who  art  a  feeble 
sinner,  to  travel  daily  this  steep  ascent  without  a  great 
deal  of  labour  and  resolution  ?  Canst  thou  get  that 
earthly  heart  to  heaven,  and  bring  that  backward  mind 
to  God,  while  thou  liest  still,  and  takest  thine  ease  ?  If 
lying  down  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  and  looking  toward 
the  top,  and  wishing  we  were  there  would  serve  the 
turn,  then  we  should  have  daily  travellers  for  heaven. 
But  "  the  kingdom  of  heaven  suffereth  violence,  and 
the  violent  take  it  by  force."  There  must  be  violence 
used  to  get  the  first  fruits,  as  well  as  to  get  the  full 
possession.  Dost  thou  not  feel  it  so,  though  I  should 
not  tell  thee?  Will  thy  heart  get  upward  except  thou 
drive  it?  Dost  thou  find  it  easy  to  dwell  in  the  delights 
above  ?  It  is  true  the  work  is  sweet,  and  no  condition 
on  earth  so  desirable  ;  but  therefore  it  is  that  our  hearts 
are  so  backward  ;  especially  in  the  beginning,  till  we 
are  acquainted  with  it.     O  how  many  who  can  easily 


THE  saints'  everlasting  REST.  255 

bring  their  hearts  to  ordinary  duties,  as  reading,  hear- 
ing, praying,  conferring,  could  never  yet,  in  all  their 
lives,  bring  them,  and  keep  them,  to  a  heavenly  con- 
templation one  half  hour  together !  Consider  here, 
reader,  as  before  the  Lord,  whether  this  be  not  thine 
own  case.  Thou  hast  known  that  heaven  is  all  thy 
hopes ;  thou  knovvest  thou  must  shortly  be  turned 
hence,  and  that  nothing  below  can  yield  thee  rest ;  thou 
knowest  also  that  a  strange  heart,  a  seldom  and  care- 
less thinking  of  heaven,  can  fetch  but  little  comfort 
thence :  and  dost  thou  yet,  for  all  this,  let  slip  thy  op 
portunities,  when  thou  shouldst  walk  above,  and  live 
with  God  ?  Dost  thou  commend  the  sweetness  of  a 
heavenly  life,  and  yet  didst  never  once  try  it  thyself? 
But  as  the  sluggard  that  stretched  himself  on  his  bed, 
and  cried,  O  that  this  were  working  !  so  dost  thou  live 
at  thy  ease,  and  say,  O  that  I  could  get  my  heart  to 
heaven !  How  many  read  books  and  hear  sermons  in 
expectation  to  hear  of  some  easy  course,  or  to  meet 
with  a  shorter  cut  to  comforts  than  ever  they  are  like  to 
find  ?  And  if  they  can  hear  of  none  from  the  preach- 
ers of  truth,  they  will  snatch  it  with  rejoicing  from  the 
teachers  of  falsehood  :  and  presently  applaud  the  excel- 
lence of  the  doctrine,  because  it  hath  fitted  their  lazy 
temper ;  and  think  there  is  no  other  doctrine  will  com- 
fort the  soul,  because  it  will  not  comfort  it  with  hearing 
and  looking  on.  And  while  they  pretend  enmity  only 
to  the  law,  they  oppose  the  easier  conditions  of  the 
Gospel,  and  cast  off  the  burden  which  all  must  bear 
that  find  rest  to  their  souls  :  the  Lord  of  light,  and 
Spirit  of  comfort,  show  these  men  in  time  a  surer  way 
for  lasting  comfort.  It  was  an  established  law  among 
the  Argi,  that  if  a  man  were  perceived  to  be  idle  and 
lazy,  he  must  give  an  account  before  the  magistrate 
how  he  came  by  his  victuals  and  maintenance  :  and  sure 
when  I  see  these  men  lazy  in  the  use  of  God's  appointed 
means  for  comfort,  I  cannot  but  question  how  they 
came  by  their  comforts.  I  would  they  would  examine 
it  thoroughly  themselves  ;  for  God  will  require  an  ac- 
count of  it  from  them.  Idleness,  and  not  improving  the 
truth  in  painful  duty,  is  the  common  cause  of  men's 
seeking  comfort   from  error ;   even  as  the   people   of 


356  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

Israel,  when  they  had  no  comfortable  answer  from  God, 
because  of  their  own  sin  and  neglect,  would  run  to  seek 
It  from  the  idols  of  the  heathens;  so  when  men  are 
false-hearted,  and  the  Spirit  of  truth  denies  them  com- 
fort, because  they  deny  him  obedience,  they  will  seek 
it  from  a  lying  spirit. 

My  advice  to  such  a  lazy  sinner,  is  this  :  as  thou  art 
ccHivicted  that  this  work  is  necessary  to  thy  comfort,  so 
resolvedly  set  upon  it :  if  thy  heart  draw  back,  and  be 
indisposed,  force  it  on  with  the  command  of  reason ; 
and  if  thy  reason  begin  to  dispute  the  work,  force  it 
with  producing  the  command  of  God  :  and  quicken  it 
with  the  consideration  of  thy  necessity,  and  the  other 
motives  before  propounded :  and  let  the  enforcements 
that  brought  thee  to  the  work,  be  still  in  thy  mind  to 
quicken  thee  in  it.  Do  not  let  such  an  incomparable 
treasure  lie  before  thee,  while  thou  liest  still  with  thy 
hand  in  thy  bosom :  let  not  thy  life  be  a  c'ontinual  vex- 
ation, which  might  be  a  continual  feast,  and  all  because 
thou  wilt  not  be  at  the  pains.  When  thou  hast  once 
tasted  the  sweetness  of  it,  and  a  little  used  thy  heart  to 
the  work,  thou  wilt  find  the  pains  thou  takest  abundantly 
recompensed.  Only  sit  not  still  with  a  disconsolate 
spirit,  while  comforts  grow  before  thine  eyes.  Neither 
is  it  a  few  formal,  lazy,  running  thoughts,  that  will  fetch 
thee  this  consolation  from  above ;  no  more  than  a  few 
lazy,  formal  words  will  prevail  with  God  instead  of  fer- 
vent prayer.  I  know  Christ  is  the  fountain,  and  I  know 
this,  as  every  other  gift,  is  of  God :  but  yet  if  thou  ask 
my  advice,  how  to  obtain  these  waters  of  consolation,  I 
must  tell  thee  there  is  something  also  for  thee  to  do : 
the  Gospel  hath  its  conditions  and  works,  though  not 
such  impossible  ones  as  the  law  ;  Christ  hath  his  yoke 
and  his  burden,  though  easy,  and  thou  must  take  it  up, 
or  thou  wilt  never  find  rest  to  thy  soul.  I  know  so  far 
as  you  are  spiritual,  you  need  not  all  this  striving  and 
violence,  but  that  is  but  in  part,  and  in  part  you  are  car- 
nal ;  and  as  long  as  it  is  so,  there  is  no  talk  of  ease.  It 
was  the  Parthians'  custom,  that  none  must  give  their 
children  any  meat  in  the  morning,  before  they  saw  the 
sweat  on  their  faces  ;  and  you  shall  find  this  to  be  God's 
most  usual  course,  not  to  give  his  children  the  taste  of 


EVERLASTING   REST.  257 

his  delights,  till  they  begin  to  sweat  in  seeking  after 
them.  Therefore  lay  them  both  together,  and  judge 
whether  a  heavenly  life,  or  thy  ease,  be  better  ;  and 
make  the  choice  accordingly.  Yet  this  let  me  say,  thou 
needest  not  expend  thy  thoughts  more  than  now  thou 
dost ;  it  is  but  only  to  employ  them  better  :  I  press  thee 
not  to  busy  thy  mind  much  more  than  thou  dost ;  but 
to  busy  it  upon  better  and  more  pleasant  objects.  Em- 
ploy but  so  many  serious  thoughts  every  day  upon  the 
excellent  glory  of  the  life  to  come,  as  thou  now  em- 
ployest  on  the  affairs  in  the  world ;  nay,  as  thou  daily 
losest  on  vanities,  and  thy  heart  will  be  at  heaven  in  a 
short  space. 

7.  It  is  also  a  dangerous  hinderance  to  content  our- 
selves with  the  mere  preparatives  to  this  heavenly  life, 
while  we  are  strangers  to  the  life  itself :  when  we  take 
up  with  the  mere  studies  of  heavenly  things,  and  the 
notions  and  thoughts  of  them  in  ovir  brain,  or  the  talking 
of  them  with  one  another,  as  if  this  were  all  that  makes 
us  heavenly  people.  There  is  none  in  more  danger  of 
this  snare  than  those  that  are  much  in  public  duty,  es- 
pecially preachers  of  the  Gospel.  O  how  easily  may 
they  be  deceived  here  while  they  do  nothing  more  than 
read  of  heaven,  and  study  of  heaven,  and  preach  of  hea- 
ven, and  pray  and  talk  of  heaven  !  What,  is  not  this 
the  heavenly  life  ?  O  that  God  would  reveal  to  our 
hearts  the  danger  of  this  snare  !  Alas,  all  this  is  but 
mere  preparation :  this  is  not  the  life  we  speak  of, 
though  it  is  a  help  thereto.  I  entreat  every  one  of  my 
brethren  in  the  ministry,  that  they  search  and  w^atch 
against  this  temptation  :  this  is  but  gathering  the  mate- 
rials, and  not  the  erecting  the  building :  this  is  but  ga- 
thering manna  for  others,  not  eating  and  digesting  it 
ourselves  :  as  he  that  sits  at  home  may  study  geography, 
and  draAv  most  exact  descriptions  of  countries,  and  yet 
never  see  them,  nor  travel  toward  them ;  so  may  you 
describe  to  others  the  joys  of  heaven,  and  yet  never 
come  near  it  in  your  own  hearts  :  if  you  should  study 
of  nothing  but  heaven  while  you  lived,  and  preach  of 
nothing  but  heaven  to  your  people,  yet  might  your  own 
hearts  be  strangers  to  it :  we  are  under  a  more  subtle 
temptation  than  other  men  to  draw  us  from  this  heavenly 


258  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

life  :  if  our  employments  lay  at  a  greater  distance  from 
heaven,  we  should  not  be  so  apt  to  be  thus  deluded  : 
but  when  we  find  ourselves  employed  upon  nothing  else, 
we  are  easier  drawn  to  take  up  here.  Studying  and 
preaching  of  heaven  is  more  like  to  a  heavenly  life,  than 
thinking  and  talking  of  the  world  is,  and  the  likeness  it 
is  that  may  deceive  us  :  this  is  to  die  the  most  miserable 
death,  even  to  famish  ourselves,  because  we  have  bread 
on  our  tables,  and  to  die  for  thirst  while  we  draw  water 
for  others  :  thinking  it  enough  that  we  have  daily  to  do 
with  it,  though  we  never  drink  it. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

SOME    GENERAL    HELPS  TO  HEAVENLY  MINDEDNESS. 

Having  thus  showed  thee  what  hinderances  will  re- 
sist thee  in  the  work,  I  shall  now  lay  down  some  posi- 
tive helps.  But  first,  I  expect  that  thou  resolve  against 
the  forementioned  impediments,  that  thou  read  them  se- 
riously, and  avoid  them  faithfully,  or  else  thy  labour 
will  be  all  in  vain  ;  thou  dost  but  go  about  to  reconcile 
light  and  darkness,  Christ  and  Belial,  heaven  and  hell, 
in  thy  spirit.  I  must  tell  thee,  also,  that  I  expect  thy 
promise  faithfully  to  set  upon  the  helps  which  I  pre- 
scribe thee  ;  and  that  the  reading  of  them  will  not  bring 
heaven  into  thy  heart,  but  in  their  constant  practice  the 
Spirit  will  do  it. 

As  thou  valuest  then  these  foretastes  of  heaven,  make 
conscience  of  performing  these  following  duties  : — 

1.  Know  heaven  to  be  the  only  treasure,  and  labour 
to  know  what  a  treasure  it  is :  be  convinced  that  thou 
hast  no  other  happiness,  and  be  convinced  what  happi- 
ness is  there  :  if  thou  dost  not  soundly  believe  it  to  be 
the  chief  good,  thou  wilt  never  set  thy  heart  upon  it ; 
and  this  conviction  must  sink  into  thy  affections  :  for  if 
it  be  only  a  notion,  it  will  have  little  operation. 

2.  Labour  as  to  know  heaven  to  be  the  only  happi- 
ness, so  also  to  be  thy  happiness.  Though  the  know- 
ledge of  excellence  and  suitableness  may  stir  up  that 
love  which  worketh  by  desire,  yet  there  must  be  the 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  259 

knowledge  of  our  interest  or  propriety  to  the  setting  at 
work  our  love  of  complacency.  We  may  confess  hea 
ven  to  be  the  best  condition,  though  we  despair  of  en- 
joying it ;  and  we  may  desire  and  seek  it,  if  we  see  the 
obtainment  to  be  but  probable ;  but  we  can  never  de- 
lightfully rejoice  in  it,  till  we  are  persuaded  of  our  title 
to  it.  What  comfort  is  it  to  a  man  that  is  naked,  to  see 
the  rich  attire  of  others  ?  Or,  to  a  man  that  hath  not  a 
bit  to  put  in  his  mouth,  to  see  a  feast  which  he  must  not 
taste  of?  What  delight  hath  a  man  that  hath  not  a 
house  to  put  his  head  in,  to  see  the  sumptuous  buildings 
of  others  ?  Would  not  all  this  rather  increase  his  an- 
guish, and  make  him  more  sensible  of  his  misery  ?  So, 
for  a  man  to  know  the  excellences  of  heaven,  and  not  to 
know  whether  he  shall  ever  enjoy  them,  may  well  raise 
desire  to  seek  it,  but  it  will  raise  but  little  joy  and  con- 
tent. 

3.  Another  help  to  the  foretaste  of  rest  is  this  :  labour 
to  apprehend  how  near  it  is :  think  seriously  of  its 
speedy  approach.  That  which  we  think  is  near  at  hand, 
we  are  more  sensible  of  than  that  which  we  behold  at  a 
distance.  When  we  hear  of  war  or  fam-ine  in  another 
country,  it  troubleth  us  not  so  much  ;  or  if  we  hear  it 
prophesied  of  a  long  time  hence  :  so  if  we  hear  of  plenty 
a  great  way  off,  or  of  a  golden  age  that  shall  fall  out, 
who  knows  when,  this  never  rejoiceth  us.  But  if  judg- 
ments or  mercies  draw  near,  then  they  affect  us.  This 
makes  men  think  on  heaven  so  insensibly,  because  they 
conceit  it  at  a  great  distance  :  they  look  on  it  as  twenty, 
or  thirty,  or  forty  years  off;  and  this  it  is  that  dulls  their 
sense.  As  wicked  men  are  fearless  and  senseless  of 
judgment,  because  the  sentence  is  not  speedily  exe- 
cuted ;  so  are  the  good  deceived  of  their  comforts,  by 
supposing  them  farther  off  than  they  are.  How  much 
better  were  it  to  receive  the  sentence  of  death  in  our- 
selves, and  to  look  on  eternity  as  near  at  hand  ?  Surely, 
reader,  thou  standest  at  the  door,  and  hundreds  of  dis- 
eases are  ready  waiting  to  open  the  door  and  let  thee  in. 
Are  not  the  thirty  or  forty  years  of  thy  life  that  are  past, 
quickly  gone?  Are  they  not  a  very  little  time  when 
thou  lookest  back  on  them  ?  And  will  not  all  the  rest 
be  shortly  so  too  ?     Do  not  days  and  nights  come  very 


260  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

thick?  Dost  thou  not  feel  that  building  of  flesh  to 
shake,  and  perceive  thy  house  of  clay  to  totter  ?  Look 
on  thy  glass,  see  how  it  runs :  look  on  thy  watch,  how 
fast  it  goeth  ;  what  a  short  moment  is  between  us  and 
our  rest ;  what  a  step  is  it  from  hence  to  everlasting- 
ness  !  While  I  am  thinking  and  writing  of  it,  it  hasteth 
near,  and  I  am  even  entering  into  it  before  I  am  aware. 
While  thou  art  reading  this,  it  posteth  on,  and  thy  life 
will  be  gone  as  a  tale  that  is  told.  Mayest  thou  not 
easily  foresee  thy  dying  time,  and  look  upon  thyself  as 
ready  to  depart  ?  It  is  but  a  few  days  till  thy  friends 
shall  lay  thee  in  the  grave,  and  others  do  the  like  for 
them.  If  you  verily  believed  you  should  die  to-morrow, 
how  seriously  would  you  think  of  heaven  to-night ! 
The  true  apprehensions  of  the  nearness  of  eternity 
doth  make  men's  thoughts  of  it  quick  and  piercing  ;  put 
life  into  their  fears  and  sorrows,  if  they  be  unfit ;  and 
into  their  desires  and  joys,  if  they  have  assurance  of  its 
glory. 

4.  Another  help  to  this  is,  to  be  much  in  serious  dis- 
coursing of  it,  especially  with  those  that  can  speak  from 
their  hearts.  It  is  pity  (saith  Mr.  Bolton)  that  Chris- 
tians should  ever  meet  together,  without  some  talk  of 
their  meeting  in  heaven :  it  is  pity  so  much  precious 
time  is  spent  in  vain  discourses,  and  useless  disputes, 
and  not  a  sober  word  of  heaven.  Methinks  we  should 
meet  together  on  purpose  to  warm  our  spirits  with  dis- 
coursing of  our  rest.  To  hear  a  minister  or  private 
Christian  set  forth  that  glorious  state,  with  power  and 
life  from  the  promises  of  the  Gospel,  methinks  should 
make  us  say,  as  the  two  disciples,  "  Did  not  our  hearts 
burn  within  us,  while  he  was  opening  to  us  the  Scrip- 
ture ?"  while  he  was  opening  to  us  the  windows  of 
heaven  ?  Get  then  together,  fellow  Christians,  and  talk 
of  the  affairs  of  your  country  and  kingdom,  and  comfort 
one  another  with  such  words.  This  may  make  our 
hearts  revive  within  us,  as  it  did  Jacob's  to  hear  the 
message  that  called  him  to  Goshen,  and  to  see  the  cha- 
riots that  should  bring  him  to  Joseph.  O  that  we  were 
furnished  with  skill  and  resolution  to  turn  the  stream 
of  men's  common  discourse  to  these  more  sublime  and 
precious  things  !    And  when  men  begin  to  talk  of  things 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  261 

unprofitable,  that  we  could  tell  how  to  put  in  a  word  for 
heaven. 

5.  Another  help  is  this  ;  make  it  thy  business  in 
every  duty  to  wind  up  thy  affections  nearer  heaven.  A 
man's  attainments  from  God  are  answerable  to  his  own 
desires  and  ends  ;  that  which  he  sincerely  seeks  he 
finds  :  God's  end  in  the  institution  of  his  ordinances 
was,  that  they  be  as  so  many  stepping  stones  to  our  rest, 
and  as  the  stairs  by  which  (in  subordination  to  Christ) 
we  may  daily  ascend  unto  it  in  our  affections  :  let  this 
be  thy  end  in  using  them,  as  it  was  God's  end  in  or- 
daining them  ;  and  doubtless  they  will  not  be  unsucces- 
ful.  Men  that  are  separated  by  sea  and  land,  can  yet, 
by  letters,  carry  on  great  trades,  even  to  the  value  of 
their  whole  estate  :  and  may  not  a  Christian  in  the  wise 
improvement  of  duties  drive  on  this  happy  trade  for 
rest?  Come  not  therefore  with  any  lower  ends  to  du- 
ties ;  renounce  familiarity,  customariness,  and  applause. 
When  thou  kneelest  down  in  secret  or  public  prayer  let 
it  be  in  hope  to  get  thy  heart  nearer  God  before  thou 
risest  off  thy  knees  :  when  thou  openest  thy  Bible  or 
other  books  let  it  be  with  this  hope,  to  meet  with  some 
passage  of  Divine  truth,  and  some  such  blessings  of  the 
Spirit  with  it,  as  may  raise  thine  affections  nearer  hea- 
ven :  when  thou  art  setting  thy  foot  out  of  thy  door  to 
go  to  the  public  worship,  say,  I  hope  to  meet  with  some- 
what from  God  that  may  raise  my  aftections  before  I 
return  ;  I  hope  the  Spirit  will  give  me  the  meeting,  and 
sweeten  my  heart  with  those  celestial  delights  ;  I  hope 
that  Christ  will  appear  to  me  in  the  way,  and  shine 
about  me  with  light  from  heaven,  and  let  me  hear  his 
instructing  and  reviving  voice,  and  cause  the  scales  to 
fall  from  mine  eyes,  that  I  may  see  more  of  that  glory 
than  I  ever  yet  saw  ;  I  hope  before  I  return  to  my 
house  my  Lord  will  take  my  heart  in  hand,  and  bring 
it  within  the  view  of  rest,  and  set  it  before  his  Father's 
presence,  that  I  may  return  as  the  shepherds  from  the 
heavenly  vision  glorifying  and  praising  God.  Remem- 
ber also  to  pray  for  thy  teacher,  that  God  would  put 
some  Divine  message  into  his  mouth  which  may  leave  a 
heavenly  relish  on  thy  spirit. 

If  these  were  our  ends,  and  this  our  course,  when  we 


262  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

set  to  duty,  we  should  not  be  so  strange  as  we  are  to 
heaven. 

6.  Another  help  is  this  ;  make  an  advantage  of  every 
object  thou  seest,  and  of  every  passage  of  Divine  provi- 
dence, and  of  every  thing  that  befalls  thee  in  thy  labour 
and  calling  to  mind  thy  soul  of  its  approaching  rest.  As 
all  providences  and  creatures  are  means  to  our  rest,  so 
do  they  point  us  to  that  as  their  end.  Every  creature 
hath  the  name  of  God  and  of  our  final  rest  written  upon 
it,  which  a  considerate  believer  may  as  truly  discern,  as 
he  can  read  upon  a  hand  in  a  crossway  the  name  of 
the  town  or  city  it  points  to.  This  spiritual  use  of 
creatures  and  providences  is  God's  great  end  in  bestow- 
ing them  on  man  ;  and  he  that  overlooks  this  end  must 
needs  rob  God  of  his  chief  praise,  and  deny  him  the 
greatest  part  of  his  thanks.  This  relation  that  our 
present  mercies  have  to  our  great  eternal  mercies  is  the 
very  quintessence  and  spirit  of  all  these  mercies  ;  there- 
fore do  they  lose  the  very  spirit  of  all  their  mercies, 
and  take  nothing  but  the  husks,  who  overlook  this  rela- 
tion, and  draw  not  forth  the  sweetness  of  it  in  their 
contemplations.  God's  sweetest  dealings  with  us  would 
not  be  half  so  SM^eet  as  they  are  if  they  did  not  intimate 
some  farther  sweetness.  As  ourselves  have  a  fleshly 
and  spiritual  substance,  so  have  our  mercies  a  fleshly 
and  spiritual  use,  and  are  fitted  to  the  nourishing  of 
both  our  parts.  He  that  receives  the  carnal  part,  and 
no  more,  may  have  his  body  comforted  by  them,  but 
not  his  soul.  O,  therefore,  that  Christians  were  skilled 
in  this  art !  You  can  open  your  Bibles  and  read  there 
of  God  and  of  glory  :  O  learn  to  open  the  creatures, 
and  the  several  passages  of  providence,  to  read  of  God 
and  glory  there.  Certainly,  by  such  a  skilful  improve- 
ment, we  might  have  a  fuller  taste  of  Christ  and  hea- 
ven in  every  bit  we  eat,  and  in  every  draft  we  drink, 
than  most  men  have  in  the  use  of  the  sacrament. 

If  thou  prosper  in  the  world  let  it  make  thee  more 
sensible  of  thy  perpetual  prosperity ;  if  thou  be  weary 
of  thy  labours  let  it  make  thy  thoughts  of  rest  more 
sweet :  if  things  go  cross  with  thee  let  it  make  thee 
more  earnestly  desire  that  day  when  all  thy  suflerings 
and  sorrow  shall  cease.     Is  thy  body  refreshed  with 


EVERLASTING    REST.  263 

food  or  sleep  ?  remember  the  inconceivable  refreshings 
with  Christ.  Dost  thou  hear  any  news  that  makes  thee 
glad  ?  remember  what  glad  tidings  it  will  be  to  hear  the 
sound  of  the  trump  of  God,  and  the  absolving  sentence 
of  Christ  our  judge.  Art  thou  delighting  thyself  in  the 
society  of  the  saints  ?  remember  the  everlasting  amiable 
society  thou  shalt  have  with  perfected  saints  in  rest. 
Is  God  communicating  himself  to  thy  spirit?  remember 
that  time  when  thy  joy  shall  be  full.  Dost  thou  hear  or 
feel  the  tempest  of  wars,  or  see  any  cloud  of  blood 
arising?  remember  the  day  that  thou  shalt  be  housed 
with  Christ,  where  there  is  nothing  but  calmness  and 
amiable  union,  and  where  we  shall  solace  ourselves  in 
perfect  peace,  under  the  v/ings  of  the  Prince  of  peace. 
Thus  you  may  see  what  advantages  to  a  heavenly  life 
every  condition  and  creature  doth  afford  us,  if  we  have 
but  hearts  to  apprehend  and  improve  them. 

7.  Another  singular  help  is  this :  be  much  in  that 
angelical  work  of  praise.  As  the  most  heavenly  spirits 
will  have  the  most  heavenly  employment,  so  the  more 
heavenly  the  employment  the  more  will  it  make  the 
spirit  heavenly  :  though  the  heart  be  the  fountain  of  all 
our  actions,  yet  do  those  actions,  by  a  kind  of  reflection, 
work  much  on  the  heart  from  whence  they  spring  ;  the 
like  also  may  be  said  of  our  speeches.  So  that  the 
work  of  praising  God,  being  the  most  heavenly  work,  is 
likely  to  raise  us  to  the  most  heavenly  temper.  This 
is  the  work  of  those  saints  and  angels,  and  this  will  be 
our  own  everlasting  work  :  if  we  were  more  taken  up 
in  this  employment  now  we  should  be  liker  to  what  we 
shall  be  then.  When  Aristotle  was  asked  what  he 
thought  of  music,  he  answers,  "  Jovem  neque  canere 
neque  citharam  pulsare  ;"  that  Jupiter  did  neither  sing 
nor  play  on  the  harp,  thinking  it  an  unprofitable  art  to 
men  which  was  no  more  delightful  to  God.  But  Chris- 
tians may  better  argue  from  the  like  ground,  that  sing- 
ing of  praise  is  a  most  profitable  duty,  because  it  is,  as 
it  were,  so  delightful  to  God  himself,  that  he  hath  made 
it  his  people's  eternal  work  ;  for  "  they  shall  sing  the 
song  of  Moses,  and  the  song  of  the  Lamb."  As  desire, 
and  faith,  and  hope,  are  of  shorter  continuance  than 
love  and  joy  ;  so  also  preaching,  and  prayer,  and  sacra- 


264  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

merits,  and  all  means  for  confirmation,  and  expression 
of  faith  and  hope  shall  cease,  when  our  thanks,  and 
praise,  and  triumphant  expressions  of  love  and  joy  shall 
abide  for  ever.  The  liveliest  emblem  of  heaven  that  I 
know  upon  earth  is,  when  the  people  of  God,  in  the 
deep  sense  of  his  excellence  and  bounty,  from  hearts 
abounding  with  love  and  joy,  join  together  both  in  heart 
and  voice  in  the  cheerful  and  melodious  singing  of 
his  praise.  Those  that  deny  the  use  of  singing  disclose 
their  unheavenly,  unexperienced  hearts,  as  well  as  their 
ignorant  understandings.  Had  they  felt  the  heavenly 
delights  that  many  of  their  brethren  in  such  duties  have 
felt,  they  would  have  been  of  another  mind  !  And  vdiere^ 
as  they  are  wont  to  question,  whether  such  delights  be 
genuine,  or  any  better  than  carnal  or  delusive  ;  surely, 
the  very  relish  of  God  and  heaven  that  is  in  them,  the 
example  of  the  saints,  in  Scripture,  whose  spirits  have 
been  raised  by  the  same  duty,  and  the  command  of 
Scripture  for  the  use  of  this  means  one  would  think 
should  quickly  destroy  the  controversy.  And  a  man 
may  as  truly  say  of  these  delights,  as  of  the  testimony 
of  the  Spirit,  that  they  witness  themselves  to  be  of  God. 

Little  do  we  know  hov/  we  wrong  ourselves  by  shut- 
ting out  of  our  prayers  the  praises  of  God,  or  allowing 
them  so  narrow  a  room  as  we  usually  do.  Reader,  I 
entreat  thee,  remember  this :  let  praises  have  a  larger 
room  in  thy  duties  ;  keep  ready  at  hand  matter  to 
feed  thy  praise,  as  well  as  matter  for  confession  and 
petition.  To  this  end  study  the  excellences  and  good- 
ness of  the  Lord,  as  frequently  as  thy  own  necessities 
and  vileness  ;  study  the  mercies  which  thou  hast  re- 
ceived, and  which  are  promised  ;  both  their  own  worth 
and  their  aggravating  circumstances  as  often  as  thou 
studiest  the  sins  thou  hast  committed.  O  let  God's 
praise  be  much  in  your  mouths.  Seven  times  a  day  did 
David  praise  him  :  yea,  his  praise  was  continually  of 
him.  As  he  that  offereth  praise  glorifieth  God,  so  doth 
he  most  rejoice  and  glad  his  own  soul.  "Offer  there- 
fore the  sacrifice  of  praise  continually  :  in  the  midst  of 
the  Church  let  us  sing  his  praise." 

I  confess,  to  a  man  of  a  languishing  body,  where  the 
heart   faints,   and  the   spirits   are   feeble,  the  cheerful 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  265 

praising  of  God  is  more  difficult ;  because  the  body  is 
the  soul's  instrument,  and  when  it  lies  unstringed,  or 
untuned,  the  music  is  likely  to  be  accordingly.  Yet  a 
spiritual  cheerfulness  there  may  be  Avithin,  and  the 
heart  may  praise,  if  not  the  voice.  But  where  the  body 
is  strong,  the  spirits  lively,  and  the  heart  cheerful,  and 
the  voice  at  command,  what  advantage  have  such  for 
this  heavenly  work  ?  With  what  alacrity  may  they 
sing  forth  praises  ?  O  the  madness  of  healthful  youth, 
that  lay  out  this  vigour  of  body  and  mind  upon  vain 
delights,  which  is  so  fit  for  the  noblest  work  of  men  ! 
And  O  the  sinful  folly  of  many  who  drench  their  spirits 
in  continual  sadness,  and  waste  their  days  in  com- 
plaints and  groans,  and  so  make  themselves  unfit  for 
this  sweet  and  heavenly  work !  that  when  they  should 
join  with  the  people  of  God  in  his  praise,  and  delight 
their  souls  in  singing  to  his  name,  they  are  studying 
their  miseries,  and  so  rob  God  of  his  praise,  and  them- 
selves of  their  solace.  But  the  greatest  destroyer  of 
our  comfort  in  this  duty  is  our  sticking  in  the  tune  and 
melody,  and  suffering  the  heart  to  be  all  the  while  idle, 
which  should  perform  the  chief  part  of  the  work. 

8.  Another  thing  I  will  advise  you  to  is  this  :  be  a 
careful  observer  of  the  drawings  of  the  Spirit,  and  fear- 
ful of  quenching  its  motions,  of  resisting  its  workings  : 
if  ever  thy  soul  get  above  this  earth,  and  get  acquaint- 
ed with  this  living  in  heaven,  the  Spirit  of  God  must  be 
to  thee  as  the  chariot  to  Elijah  ;  yea,  the  very  living 
principle  by  which  thou  must  move  and  ascend  to  hea- 
ven. O  then  grieve  not  thy  guide,  quench  not  thy  life  : 
if  thou  dost,  no  wonder  if  thy  soul  be  at  a  loss :  you 
little  think  how  much  the  life  of  all  your  graces  depends 
upon  your  ready  and  cordial  obedience  to  the  Spirit : 
when  the  Spirit  urgeth  thee  to  secret  prayer,  and  thou 
refusest  obedience  ;  when  he  forbids  thee  a  known 
transgression,  and  yet  thou  Vvdlt  go  on  ;  when  he  telleth 
thee  which  is  the  way,  and  which  not,  and  thou  wilt 
not  regard,  no  wonder  if  heaven  and  thy  soul  be 
strange  :  if  thou  wilt  not  follow  the  Spirit,  while  it 
would  draw  thee  to  Christ,  and  to  duty ;  how  'should  it 
lead  thee  to  heaven,  and  bring  thy  heart  into  the  pre- 
sence of  God  ?  O  what  bold  access  shall  that  soul  find 
12 


266  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

in  its  approaches  to  the  Ahnighty,  that  is  accustomed  to 
a  constant  obeying  of  the  Spirit.  And  how  backward, 
how  dull,  and  strange,  and  ashamed,  will  he  be  to  these 
addresses,  who  hath  long  used  to  break  away  from  the 
Spirit  that  would  have  guided  him  !  I  beseech  thee 
learn  well  this  lesson,  and  try  this  course  :  let  not  the 
motions  of  thy  body  only,  but  the  thoughts  of  thy  heart, 
be  at  the  Spirit's  beck.  Dost  thou  not  feel  sometimes 
a  strong  impulsion  to  retire  from  the  world,  and  draw 
near  to  God  ?  O  do  not  thou  disobey,  but  take  the  offer, 
and  hoist  up  sail  while  thou  mayest  have  this  blessed 
gale.  When  this  wind  blows  strongest,  thou  goest  fast- 
est, either  backward  or  forward.  The  more  of  this  Spirit 
we  resist,  the  deeper  will  it  wound,  and  the  more  we 
obey,  the  speedier  is  our  pace  ;  as  he  goes  heaviest  that 
hath  the  wind  in  his  face,  and  he  easiest  that  hath  it  in 
his  back. 


CHAPTER  V. 

A    DESCRIPTION    OF    HEAVENLY    CONTEMPLATION. 

The  main  thing  intended  is  yet  behind,  and  that 
which  I  aimed  at  when  I  set  upon  this  work.  All  that 
I  have  said  is  but  the  preparation  to  this.  I  once  more 
entreat  thee,  therefore,  as  thou  art  a  man  that  makest 
conscience  of  a  revealed  duty,  and  that  darest  not  wil- 
fully resist  the  Spirit ;  as  thou  vainest  the  high  delights 
of  a  saint,  and  as  thou  art  faithful  to  the  peace  and  pros- 
perity of  thine  own  soul ;  that  thou  diligently  study  the 
directions  following,  and  that  thou  speedily  and  faith- 
fully put  them  in  practice  :  I  pray  thee,  therefore,  re- 
solve before  thou  readest  any  farther,  and  promise  here, 
as  before  the  Lord,  that  if  the  following  advice  be  whole- 
some to  thy  soul,  thou  wilt  seriously  set  thyself  to  the 
work,  and  that  no  laziness  of  spirit  shall  take  thee  off, 
nor  lesser  business  interrupt  thy  course,  but  that  thou 
wilt  approve  thyself  a  doer  of  this  word,  and  not  an  idle 
hearer  only.  Is  this  thy  promise,  and  wilt  thou  stand 
to  it  ?  Resolve,  man,  and  then  I  shall  be  encouraged  to 
give  thee  my  advice ;  only  try  it  thoroughly,  and  then 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  267 

judge  :  if  in  the  faithful  following  of  this  course  thou 
dost  not  find  an  increase  of  all  thy  graces,  and  art  not 
made  more  serviceable  in  thy  place ;  if  thy  soul  enjoy 
not  more  fellowship  with  God,  and  thy  life  be  not  fuller 
of  pleasure,  and  thou  have  not  comfort  readier  by  thee 
at  a  dying  hour,  and  when  thou  hast  greatest  need  ;  then 
throw  these  directions  back  in  my  face,  and  exclaim 
against  me  as  a  deceiver  for  ever  :  except  God  should 
leave  thee  uncomfortable  for  a  little  season,  for  the  more 
glorious  manifestation  of  his  attributes  and  thy  inte- 
grity ;  and  single  thee  out  as  he  did  Job,  for  an  example 
of  constancy  and  patience,  which  would  be  but  a  prepa- 
rative for  thy  fullest  comfort.  Certainly  God  will  not 
forsake  this  his  own  ordinance,  but  will  be  found  of 
those  that  thus  diligently  seek  him^  God  hath,  as  it 
were,  appointed  to  meet  thee  in  this  way  :  do  not  thou 
fail  to  give  him  the  meeting,  and  thou  shalt  find  by  ex- 
perience that  he  will  not  fail. 

The  duty  which  I  press  upon  thee  so  earnestly,  I 
shall  now  describe  :  it  is  the  set  and  solemn  acting  of 
all  the  powers  of  the  soul  upon  this  most  perfect  object 
[rest]  by  meditation. 

I  will  a  little  more  fu]ly  explain  the  meaning  of  this 
description,  that  so  the  duty  may  lie  plain  before  thee. 
1.  The  general  title  that  I  give  this  duty  is,  meditation: 
not  as  it  is  precisely  distinguished  from  cogitation,  con- 
sideration, and  contemplation ;  but  as  it  is  taken  in  the 
larger  and  usual  sense  for  cogitation  on  things  spiritual, 
and  so  comprehending  consideration  and  contemplation. 

That  meditation  is  a  duty  of  God's  ordaining,  not 
only  in  his  written  law,  but  also  in  nature  itself,  I  never 
met  with  the  man  that  Avould  deny :  but  that  it  is  a  duty 
constantly  practised,  I  must,  with  sorrow,  deny:  it  is  in 
word  confessed  to  be  a  duty  by  all,  but  by  the  constant 
neglect  denied  by  most :  and  (I  know  not  by  what  fatal 
security  it  comes  to  pass,  that)  men  that  are  very  tender 
conscienced  toward  most  other  duties,  yet  as  easily 
overslip  this  as  if  they  knew  it  not  to  be  a  duty  at  all; 
they  that  are  presently  troubled  if  they  omit  a  sermon,  a 
fast,  a  prayer  in  public  or  private,  yet  were  never  trou- 
bled that  they  have  omitted  meditation,  perhaps,  all  their 
lifetime  to  this  very  day :  though  it  be  that  duty  by 


268  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

which  all  other  duties  are  improved,  and  by  which  the 
soul  digesteth  truths,  and  draweth  forth  their  strength 
for  its  nourishment.  Certainly,  I  think,  that  as  a  man 
is  but  half  an  hour  taking  into  his  stomach  that  meat 
which  he  must  have  seven  or  eight  hours  to  digest  j  so 
a  man  may  take  into  his  understanding  and  memory 
more  truth  in  one  hour,  than  he  is  able  well  to  digest  in 
many.  Therefore  God  commanded  Joshua,  "  That  the 
book  of  the  law  should  not  depart  out  of  his  mouth,  but 
that  he  should  meditate  therein  day  and  night :  that  he 
might  observe  to  do  according  to  that  which  is  written 
therein."  As  digestion  is  the  turning  the  food  into 
chyle  and  blood,  and  spirits  and  flesh  ;  so  meditation, 
rightly  managed,  turneth  the  truths  received  and  remem- 
bered into  warm  affection,  raised  resolution,  and  holy 
conversation.  Therefore  what  good  those  men  are 
likely  to  get  by  sermons  or  providences,  who  are  unac- 
customed to  meditation,  you  may  easily  judge.  And 
why  so  much  preaching  is  lost  among  us,  and  men  can 
run  from  sermon  to  sermon,  and  yet  have  such  languish- 
ing, starved  souls,  I  know  no  truer  cause  than  their  ne- 
glect of  meditation.  If  men  heard  one  hour  and  medi- 
tated seven  ;  if  they  did  as  constantly  digest  their  ser- 
mons as  they  hear  them,  they  would  find  another  kind 
of  benefit  by  sermons,  than  the  ordinary  sort  of  Chris- 
tians do. 

But  because  meditation  is  a  general  word,  and  it  is 
not  all  meditation  that  I  here  intend,  I  shall  therefore  lay 
down  the  difference  whereby  this  I  am  urging  is  discerned 
from  all  other  sorts  of  meditation.  And  the  difference 
is  taken  from  the  act,  and  from  the  object  of  it. 

From  the  act,  which  I  call  the  set  and  solemn  acting 
of  all  the  powers  of  the  soul. 

1.  I  call  it  the  acting  of  them,  for  it  is  action  that  we 
are  directing  you  in  now,  and  not  dispositions  ;  yet  these 
also  are  necessarily  presupposed  :  it  must  be  a  soul  that 
is  qualified  for  the  work,  by  the  supernatural  grace  of 
the  Spirit,  which  must  be  able  to  perform  this  heavenly 
exercise.  It  is  a  work  of  the  living,  and  not  of  the 
dead  :  it  is  a  work  of  all  other  the  most  spiritual,  and 
therefore  not  to  be  well  performed  by  a  heart  that  is 
merely  carnal. 


269 

2.  I  call  this  meditation  the  acting  of  the  powers  of 
the  soul,  meaning  the  soul  as  rational.  It  is  the  work 
of  the  soul ;  for  bodily  exercise  doth  here  profit  but 
little.  The  soul  hath  its  labour  and  its  ease,  its  busi- 
ness and  its  idleness,  as  well  as  the  body  ;  and  diligent 
students  are  usually  as  sensible  of  the  labour  and  weari- 
ness of  their  spirits,  as  they  are  of  that  of  the  members 
of  the  body.  This  action  of  the  soul  is  it  I  persuade 
thee  to. 

3.  I  call  it  the  acting  of  all  the  powers  of  the  soul, 
to  difference  it  from  the  common  meditation  of  students, 
which  is  usually  the  mere  employment  of  the  brain.  It 
is  not  a  bare  thinking  that  I  mean,  nor  the  mere  use  of 
invention  or  memory,  but  a  business  of  a  higher  and 
more  excellent  nature. 

The  understanding  is  not  the  whole  soul,  and  there- 
fore cannot  do  the  whole  work:  as  God  hath  made  se- 
veral parts  in  man,  to  perform  their  several  offices  for 
his  nourishment  and  life ;  so  hath  he  ordained  the  facul- 
ties of  the  soul  to  perform  their  several  offices  for  his 
spiritual  life ;  so  the  understanding  must  take  in  truths, 
and  prepare  them  for  the  will,  and  it  must  receive  them, 
and  commend  them  to  the  aifections  :  the  best  digestion 
is  in  the  bottom  of  the  stomach ;  the  affections  are  as  it 
were  the  bottom  of  the  soul,  and  therefore  the  best  di- 
gestion is  there  ;  while  truth  is  but  a  speculation  swim- 
ming in  the  brain,  the  soul  hath  not  taken  fast  hold  of 
it :  Christ  and  heaven  have  various  excellences,  and 
therefore  God  hath  formed  the  soul  with  a  power  of  di- 
vers ways  of  apprehending,  that  so  we  might  be  capable 
of  enjoying  those  excellences. 

What  good  could  all  the  glory  of  heaven  have  done 
us  ?  or  what  pleasure  should  we  have  had  in  the  good- 
ness of  God  himself,  if  we  had  been  without  the  affec- 
tions of  love  and  joy,  whereby  we  are  capable  of  being 
delighted  in  that  goodness  ?  So,  also,  what  strength  or 
sweetness  canst  thou  receive  by  thy  meditations  on 
eternity,  while  thou  dost  not  exercise  those  affections 
which  are  the  senses  of  the  soul,  by  which  it  must  re- 
ceive this  strength  and  sweetness  ! 

This  is  it  that  hath  deceived  Christians  in  this  busi- 
ness ;  they  have  thought  meditation  is  nothing  but  the 


270 

bare  thinking  on  truths,  and  the  rolling  of  them  in  the 
understanding  and  memory,  when  every  schoolboy  can 
do  this. 

Therefore  this  is  the  great  task  in  hand,  and  this  is 
the  work  that  I  would  set  thee  on  ;  to  get  these  truths 
from  thy  head  to  thy  heart ;  that  all  the  sermons  which 
thou  hast  heard  of  heaven,  and  all  the  notions  thou  hast 
conceived  of  this  rest,  may  be  turned  into  the  blood  and 
spirit  of  affection,  and  thou  mayest  feel  them  revive 
thee,  and  warm  thee  at  the  heart,  and  mayest  so  think 
of  heaven,  as  heaven  should  be  thought  on. 

If  thou  shouldst  study  nothing  but  heaven  while  thou 
livest,  and  shouldst  have  thy  thoughts  at  command,  to 
turn  them  thither  on  every  occasion,  and  yet  shouldst 
proceed  no  farther  than  this,  this  were  not  the  medita- 
tion that  I  intended :  as  it  is  thy  whole  soul  that  must 
possess  God  hereafter,  so  must  the  whole  in  a  lower 
manner  possess  him  here.  I  have  shown  you,  in  the 
beginning  of  this  treatise,  how  the  soul  must  enjoy  the 
Lord  in  glory,  to  wit,  by  knowing,  by  loving,  by  joying 
in  him  ;  why,  the  very  same  way  must  thou  begin  thy 
enjoyment  here. 

So  much  as  thy  understanding  and  affections  are  sin- 
cerely placed  upon  God,  so  much  dost  thou  enjoy  him  : 
and  this  is  the  happy  work  of  this  meditation.  So  that 
you  see  here  is  somewhat  more  to  be  done,  than  barely 
to  remember  and  think  of  heaven :  as  running,  and  such 
like  labours,  do  not  only  stir  a  hand  or  foot,  but  strain 
and  exercise  the  whole  body ;  so  doth  meditation  the 
whole  soul. 

As  the  whole  was  filled  with  sin  before,  so  the  whole 
must  be  filled  with  God  now ;  as  St.  Paul  saith  of  know- 
ledge, and  gifts,  and  faith,  to  remove  mountains,  that  if 
thou  hast  all  these  without  love,  thou  art  but  "  as  a 
sounding  brass,  or  as  a  tinkling  cymbal,"  so  I  may  say 
of  the  exercise  of  these,  if  in  this  work  of  meditation, 
thou  exercise  knowledge,  and  gifts,  and  faith  of  mira- 
cles, and  not  love  and  joy,  thou  dost  nothing;  if  thy 
meditation  fends  to  fill  thy  note  book  with  notions  and 
good  sayings,  concerning  God,  and  not  thy  heart  with 
longings  after  him,  and  delight  in  him,  for  aught  I  know 
thy  book  is  as  much  a  Christian  as  thou. 


THE   SAINTS*   EVERLASTING    REST.  271 

I  call  this  meditation  set  and  solemn,  to  difference  it 
from  that  which  is  occasional.  As  there  is  prayer  which 
is  solemn,  when  we  set  ourselves  wholly  to  the  duty  ; 
and  prayer  which  is  sudden  and  short,  commonly  called 
ejaculations,  when  a  man  in  the  midst  of  other  business 
doth  send  up  some  brief  request  to  God :  so  also  there 
is  meditation  solemn,  when  we  apply  ourselves  only  to 
that  work  ;  and  there  is  meditation  which  is  short  and 
cursory,  when  in  the  midst  of  our  business  we  have 
some  good  thoughts  of  God  in  our  minds.  And  as  so- 
lemn prayer  is  either  first  set,  when  a  Christian,  observ- 
ing it  as  a  standing  duty,  doth  resolvedly  practise  it  in  a 
constant  course  ;  or  secondly,  occasional,  when  some 
unusual  occasion  doth  put  us  upon  it  at  a  season  extra- 
ordinary :  so  also  meditation. 

Now,  though  I  would  persuade  you  to  that  meditation 
which  is  mixed  with  your  common  labours,  and  to  that 
which  special  occasions  direct  you  to  ;  yet  these  are  not 
the  main  things  which  I  here  intend ;  but  that  you 
would  make  it  a  constant  standing  duty,  as  you  do  hear- 
ing, and  praying,  and  reading  the  Scripture,  and  that 
you  would  solemnly  set  yourselves  about  it,  and  make 
it  for  that  time  your  whole  work,  and  intermix  other 
matters  no  more  with  it  than  you  would  do  with  pray- 
ing, or  other  duties.  Thus  you  see  what  kind  of  medi- 
tation it  is  that  we  speak  of,  viz.,  the  set  and  solemn 
acting  of  all  the  powers  of  the  soul. 

The  second  part  of  the  difference  is  drawn  from  its 
object,  which  is  rest,  or  the  most  blessed  estate  of  man 
in  his  everlasting  enjoyment  of  God  in  heaven.  Medi- 
tation hath  a  large  field  to  walk  in,  and  hath  as  many 
objects  to  work  upon,  as  there  are  matters,  and  lines, 
and  words  in  the  Scriptures,  as  there  are  known  crea- 
tures in  the  whole  creation,  and  as  there  are  particular 
discernible  passages  of  Providence  in  the  government 
of  persons  and  actions  through  the  world  :  but  the  me- 
ditation that  I  now  direct  you  in,  is  only  of  the  end  of 
all  these,  and  of  these  as  they  refer  to  that  end  :  it  is 
not  a  walk  from  mountains  to  valleys,  from  sea  to  land, 
from  kingdom  to  kingdom,  from  planet  to  planet ;  but  it' 
is  a  walk  from  mountains  and  valleys  to  the  holy  mount 
Sion  ;  from  sea  and  land  to  the  land  of  the  living  ;  from 


272  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

the  kingdoms  of  this  world  to  the  kingdom  of  saints ; 
from  earth  to  heaven  ;  from  time  to  eternity.  It  is  a 
walking  upon  the  sun,  and  moon,  and  stars  ;  it  is  a  walk 
in  the  garden  and  paradise  of  God.  It  may  seem  far 
oif ;  but  spirits  are  quick  ;  whether  in  the  body,  or  out 
of  the  body,  their  motion  is  swift :  they  are  not  so  heavy 
or  dull  as  these  earthly  lumps,  nor  so  slow  of  motion  as 
these  clods  of  flesh.  I  would  not  have  you  cast  off"  your 
other  meditations  ;  but  surely  as  heaven  hath  the  pre- 
eminence in  perfection,  so  should  it  have  the  pre-emi- 
nence also  in  our  meditation  :  that  which  will  make  us 
most  happy  when  we  possess  it,  will  make  us  most  joy- 
ful when  we  meditate  upon  it ;  especially  when  that 
meditation  is  a  degree  of  possession,  if  it  be  such  aflfect- 
ing  meditation  as  I  here  describe. 

You  need  not  here  be  troubled  with  fear,  lest  study- 
ing so  much  on  these  high  matters  should  make  you 
mad.  If  I  set  you  to  meditate  as  much  on  sin  and 
wrath,  and  to  study  nothing  but  judgment  and  damna- 
tion, then  you  might  fear  such  an  issue  :  but  it  is  hea- 
ven, and  not  hell,  that  I  would  persuade  you  to  walk  in; 
it  is  joy,  and  not  sorrow,  that  I  persuade  you  to  exer- 
cise. I  would  urge  you  to  look  on  no  deformed  object, 
but  only  upon  the  ravishing  glory  of  saints,  and  the  un- 
speakable excellences  of  the  God  of  glory,  and  the 
beams  that  stream  from  the  face  of  his  Son.  Are  these 
sad  thoughts  ?  Will  it  distract  a  man  to  think  of  his 
happiness  ?  Will  it  distract  the  miserable  to  think  of 
mercy  ?  Or  the  captive,  or  prisoner,  to  foresee  deliver- 
ance? Neither  do  I  persuade  your  thoughts  to  matters 
of  great  difficulty,  or  to  study  knotted  controversies  of 
heaven,  or  to  search  out  things  beyond  your  reach.  If 
you  should  thus  set  your  wit  upon  the  tenters,  you 
might  quickly  be  distracted  indeed :  but  it  is  your  affec- 
tions more  than  your  inventions  that  must  be  used  in 
this  heavenly  employment  we  speak  of.  They  are 
truths  which  are  commonly  known,  which  your  souls 
must  draw  forth  and  feed  upon.  The  resurrection  of 
the  body  and  the  life  everlasting,  are  articles  of  your 
creed,  and  not  nicer  controversies.  Methinks  it  should 
be  liker  to  make  a  man  mad,  to  think  of  living  in  a  world 
of  wo,  to  think  of  abiding  among  the  rage  of  wicked 


THE  saints'  everlasting  REST.  273 

men,  than  to  think  of  living  with  Christ  in  bliss ;  me- 
thinks,  if  we  be  not  mad  already,  it  should  sooner  dis- 
tract us,  to  hear  the  tempests  and  roaring  waves,  to  see 
the  billows,  and  rocks,  and  sands,  and  gulfs,  than  to 
think  of  arriving  safe  at  rest.  "  But  wisdom  is  justified 
of  all  her  children."  Knowledge  hath  no  enemy  but 
the  ignorant.  This  heavenly  course  was  never  spoken 
against  by  any,  but  those  that  never  either  knew  it,  or 
used  it.  I  more  fear  the  neglect  of  men  that  do  approve 
it.  Truth  loseth  much  more  by  loose  friends,  than  by 
the  sharpest  enemies. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    FITTEST    TIME  AND   PLACE    FOR   THIS    CONTEMPLATION,    AND 
THE    PREPARATION    OF    THE    HEART    UNTO    IT. 

Thus  I  have  opened  to  you  the  nature  of  this  duty ; 
I  proceed  to  direct  you  in  the  work  ;  where  I  shall, 
First,  Show  you  how  you  must  set  upon  it ;  Secondly, 
How  you  must  behave  in  it ;  and  Thirdly,  How  you 
shall  shut  it  up.  I  advise  thee,  1.  Somewhat  concern- 
ing the  time.  2.  Somewhat  concerning  the  place.  And 
3.  Somewhat  concerning  the  frame  of  thy  spirit. 

And  1.  For  the  time,  I  advise  thee  that  as  much  as 
may  be,  it  be  set  and  constant.  Proportion  out  such  a 
part  of  thy  time  to  the  work. 

Stick  not  at  their  scruple  who  question  the  stating  of 
times  as  superstitious  ;  if  thou  suit  out  thy  time  to  the 
advantage  of  the  work,  and  place  no  religion  in  the 
time  itself,  thou  needest  not  to  fear  lest  this  be  super- 
stition. As  a  workman  in  his  shop  will  have  a  set 
place  for  every  one  of  his  tools,  or  else  when  he  should 
use  it,  it  may  be  to  seek ;  so  a  Christian  should  have  a 
set  time  for  every  ordinary  duty,  or  else  when  he  should 
practise  it  it  is  ten  to  one  but  he  will  be  put  by  it. 
Stated  time  is  a  hedge  to  duty,  and  defends  it  against 
many  temptations  to  omission.  God  hath  stated  none 
but  the  Lord's  day  himself:  but  he  hath  left  it  to  be 
stated  by  ourselves,  according  to  every  man's  condition 
and  occasions,  lest  otherwise  his  law  should  have  been 
12* 


274  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

a  burden  or  a  snare.  Yet  halh  he  left  us  general  rules, 
which  by  the  use  of  reason,  and  Christian  prudence, 
may  help  us  to  determine  the  fittest  times. 

It  is  as  ridiculous  a  question  of  them  that  ask  us, 
Where  Scripture  commands  us  to  pray  so  oft  or  at  such 
hours  ?  as  if  they  asked,  Where  the  Scripture  com- 
mands that  the  church  stand  in  such  a  place?  or  the 
pulpit  in  such  a  place  ?  or  m.y  seat  in  such  a  place  ?  or 
where  it  commands  a  man  to  read  the  Scriptures  with  a 
pair  of  spectacles  ? 

Most  that  I  have  known  to  argue  against  a  stated  time 
have  at  last  grown  careless  of  the  duty  itself,  and  show- 
ed more  dislike  against  the  work  than  the  time.  If 
God  gave  me  so  much  money  or  wealth,  and  tell  me 
not  in  Scripture  how  much  such  a  poor  man  must  have, 
nor  how  much  my  family,  nor  how  much  in  clothes, 
and  how  much  in  expenses,  is  it  not  lawful,  yea,  and 
necessary,  that  I  make  the  division  myself,  and  allow 
to  each  the  due  portion  ?  So  if  God  doth  bestow  on 
me  a  day  or  week  of  time,  and  give  me  such  and  such 
work  to  do  in  this  time,  and  tell  me  not  how  much  I 
shall  allot  to  each  work ;  certainly  I  must  make  the 
division  myself,  and  proportion  it  wisely  and  carefully 
too.  Though  God  hath  not  told  you  at  what  hour  you 
shall  rise  in  the  morning,  or  at  what  hours  you  shall 
eat  and  drink ;  yet  your  own  reason  and  experience 
will  tell  you  that  ordinarily  you  should  observe  a  stated 
time.  Neither  let  the  fear  of  customariness  and  for- 
mality deter  you  from  this.  This  argument  hath  brought 
the  Lord's  Supper  from  once  a  week  to  once  a  quarter, 
or  once  a  year  ;  and  it  hath  brought  family  duties,  with 
too  many  of  late,  from  twice  a  day  to  once  a  week,  or 
once  a  month. 

I  advise  thee,  therefore,  if  well  thou  mayest,  to  allow 
this  duty  a  stated  time,  and  be  as  constant  in  it  as  in 
hearing  and  praying  :  yet  be  cautious  in  understanding 
this.  I  know  this  will  not  prove  every  man's  duty : 
some  have  not  themselves  and  their  time  at  command, 
and  therefore  cannot  set  their  hours;  such  are  most 
servants,  and  many  children  of  poor  parents ;  and 
many  are  so  poor  that  the  necessity  of  their  families 
will  deny  them  this  freedom.     I  do  not  think   it  the 


EVERLASTING  REST.  275 

duty  of  such  to  leave  their  labours  for  this  work  just  at 
certain  set  times,  no  nor  for  prayer.  Of  two  duties  we 
must  choose  the  greater,  though  of  two  sins  we  must 
choose  neither.  I  think  such  persons  were  best  to  be 
watchful,  to  redeem  time  as  much  as  they  can,  and  take 
their  vacant  opportunities  as  they  fall,  and  especially  to 
join  meditation  and  prayer,  as  much  as  they  can,  with 
the  labours  of  iheir  callings.  There  is  no  such  enmity 
between  labouring,  and  meditating  or  praying  in  the 
Spirit,  but  that  both  may  be  done  together  ;  yet  I  say, 
as  Paul  in  another  case,  "  If  thou  canst  be  free,  use  it 
rather."  Those  that  have  more  spare  time  I  still  ad- 
vise that  they  keep  this  duty  to  a  stated  time.  And  in- 
deed it  were  no  ill  husbandry,  nor  point  of  folly,  if  we 
did  so  by  all  other  duties,  if  we  considered  the  ordinary 
works  of  the  day,  and  suited  out  a  fit  season  and  pro- 
portion of  time  to  every  work,  and  fixed  this  in  our 
memory  and  resolution,  or  wrote  it  in  a  table,  and  kept 
it  in  our  closets,  and  never  broke  it  but  upon  unexpect- 
ed and  extraordinary  causes :  if  every  work  of  the  day 
had  thus  its  appointed  time,  we  should  be  better  skilled, 
both  in  redeeming  time,  and  performing  duty. 

3.  I  advise  thee  also  concerning  thy  time  for  this 
duty,  that  as  it  be  stated,  so  it  be  frequent :  just  how 
oft  it  should  be  I  cannot  determine,  because  men's  con- 
ditions may  vary  it ;  but  in  general,  that  it  be  frequent, 
the  Scripture  requireth,  when  it  mentioneth  meditating 
continually,  and  day  and  night.  Circumstances  of  our 
condition  may  much  vary  the  circumstance  of  our  du- 
ties. It  may  be  one  man's  duty  to  hear  or  pray  oftener 
than  another,  and  so  it  may  be  in  this  of  meditation  : 
but  for  those  that  can  conveniently  omit  other  business, 
I  advise  that  it  be  once  a  day  at  least.  Though  Scrip- 
ture tells  us  not  how  oft  in  a  day  we  should  eat  or 
drink,  yet  prudence  and  experience  will  direct  us  twice 
or  thrice  a  day. 

Those  that  think  they  should  not  tie  themselves  to 
order  and  number  of  duties,  but  should  then  only  medi- 
tate, or  pray,  when  they  find  the  Spirit  provoking  them 
to  it,  go  upon  uncertain  and  unchristian  grounds.  I  am 
sure  the  Scripture  provokes  us  to  frequency,  and  our 
necessity   secondeth   the  voice  of   Scripture ;    and    if 


S76  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

through  my  own  neglect,  or  resisting  the  Spirit,  I  do 
not  find  it  so  excite  me,  I  dare  not  therefore  disobey 
the  Scripture,  nor  neglect  the  necessities  of  my  own 
soul.  I  should  suspect  that  spirit  which  would  turn  m}'- 
soul  from  constancy  in  duty  :  if  the  Spirit  in  Scripture 
bid  me  meditate  or  pray,  I  dare  not  forbear  it,  because 
I  find  not  the  Spirit  within  me  to  second  the  command  : 
if  I  find  not  incitation  to  duty  before,  yet  I  may  find 
assistance  while  I  wait  in  performance.  I  am  afraid  of 
laying  my  corruptions  upon  the  Spirit,  or  blaming  the 
want  of  the  Spirit's  assistance,  when  I  should  blame 
the  backwardness  of  my  own  heart ;  nor  dare  I  make 
one  corruption  a  plea  for  another  ;  nor  urge  the  inward 
rebellion  of  my  nature  as  a  reason  for  the  outward  dis- 
obedience of  my  life  ;  and  for  the  healing  of  my  na- 
ture's backwardness  I  more  expect  that  the  spirit  of 
Christ  should  do  it  in  a  way  of  duty,  than  in  a  way  of  dis- 
obedience and  neglect  of  duty.  Men  that  fall  on  duty 
according  to  the  frame  of  their  spirit  only,  are  like  our 
ignorant  vulgar,  who  think  their  appetite  should  be  the 
only  rule  of  their  eating  ;  when  a  wise  man  judgeth  by 
reason  and  experience,  lest,  when  his  appetite  is  deprav- 
ed, he  should  either  surfeit  or  famish.  Our  appetite  is 
no  sure  rule  for  our  times  of  duty ;  but  the  word  of 
God  in  general,  and  our  spiritual  reason,  experience, 
necessity,  and  convenience,  in  particular,  may  truly  di- 
rect us. 

Three  reasons  especially  should  persuade  thee  to 
frequency  in  this  meditation  on  heaven. 

1.  Because  seldom  conversing  with  him  will  breed  a 
strangeness  betwixt  thy  soul  and  God  :  frequent  soci- 
ety breeds  familiarity,  and  familiarity  increaseth  love 
and  delight,  and  maketh  us  bold  and  confident  in  our 
addresses.  This  is  the  main  end  of  this  duty,  that  thou 
mayest  have  acquaintance  and  fellowship  with  God 
therein;  therefore  if  thou  come  but  seldom  to  it,  thou 
wilt  keep  thyself  a  stranger  still,  and  so  miss  of  the  end 
of  the  work. 

2.  Seldomness  will  make  thee  unskilful  in  the  work, 
and  strange  to  the  duty,  as  well  -as  to  God.  How 
clumsily  do  men  set  their  hands  to  a  work  they  are  sel- 
dom employed  in  !  whereas,  frequency  will  habituate 


THE   saints'  everlasting  REST.  277 

thy  heart  to  the  work,  and  thou  wilt  better  know  the 
way  in  which  thou  daily  walkest,  yea,  and  it  will  be 
more  easy  and  delightful  also  :  the  hill  which  made 
thee  pant  and  blow  at  the  first  going  up  thou  mayest 
run  up  easily  when  thou  art  once  accustomed  to  it. 

3.  And  lastly,  Thou  wilt  lose  that  heat  and  life  by 
long  intermissions,  which  with  much  ado  thou  didst  ob- 
tain in  duty.  If  thou  eat  but  a  meal  in  two  or  three 
days  thou  Avilt  lose  thy  strength  as  fast  as  thou  gettest 
it :  if  in  holy  meditation  thou  get  near  to  Christ,  and 
warm  thy  heart  with  the  fire  of  love,  if  thou  then  turn 
away,  and  come  but  seldom,  thou  wilt  soon  return  to 
thy  former  coldness. 

It  is  true  the  intermixed  use  of  other  duties  may  do 
much  to  the  keeping  thy  heart  above,  especially  secret 
prayer :  but  meditation  is  the  life  of  most  other  duties ; 
and  the  view  of  heaven  is  the  life  of  meditation. 

3.  Concerning  the  time  of  this  duty,  I  advise  thee 
that  thou  choose  the  most  seasonable  time.  All  things 
are  beautiful  in  their  season.  Unseasonableness  may 
lose  thee  the  fruit  of  thy  labour ;  it  may  raise  disturb- 
ances and  difficulties  in  the  work  ;  yea,  it  may  turn  a 
duty  to  sin  ;  when  the  seasonableness  of  a  duty  doth 
make  it  easy,  doth  remove  impediments,  doth  embolden 
us  to  the  undertaking,  and  ripen  its  fruit. 

The  seasons  of  this  duty  are  either,  first,  ordinary  ; 
or  secondly,  extraordinary. 

First,  The  ordinary  season  of  your  daily  perform- 
ance cannot  be  particularly  determined,  otherwise  God 
would  have  determined  it  in  his  word.  Men's  condi> 
tions  of  employment,  and  freedom,  and  bodily  temper, 
are  so  various  that  the  same  may  be  a  seasonable  hour 
to  one  which  may  be  unseasonable  to  another.  If  thou 
be  a  servant,  or  a  hard  labourer,  that  thou  hast  not  thy 
time  at  command,  thou  must  take  that  season  which  thy 
business  will  best  afford  :  either  as  thou  sittest  in  the 
shop  at  thy  work,  or  as  thou  travellest  on  the  way,  or  as 
thou  liest  waking  in  the  night.  Every  man  best  knows 
his  own  time,  even  when  he  hath  the  least  to  hinder 
him  in  the  world  :  but  for  those  whose  necessities  tie 
them  not  so  close,  but  that  they  may  choose  what  time 
of  the  day  they  will,  my  advice  to  such  is,  that  they 


378  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

carefully  observe  the  temper  of  their  body  and  mind 
and  mark  when  they  find  their  spirits  most  active  and 
fit  for  contemplation,  and  pitch  upon  that  as  the  stated 
time.  Some  men  are  freest  for  duties  when  they  are 
fasting,  and  some  are  then  unfittest  of  all.  Every 
man  is  the  meetest  judge  for  himself.  The  time  I  have 
always  found  fittest  for  myself,  is  the  evening,  from  sun- 
setting  to  the  twilight ;  and  sometime  in  the  night  when 
it  is  warm  and  clear. 

The  Lord's  day  is  a  time  exceeding  seasonable  for 
this  exercise.  When  should  we  more  seasonably  con- 
template on  rest,  than  on  that  day  which  doth  typify  it 
to  us  ?  Neither  do  I  think  that  typifying  use  is  ceased, 
because  the  antitype  is  not  fully  come.  However,  it 
being  a  day  appropriated  to  worship  and  spiritual  duties, 
we  should  never  exclude  this  duty,  which  is  so  emi- 
nently spiritual.  I  think  verily  this  is  the  chief  work 
of  a  Christian  Sabbath,  and  most  agreeable  to  the  intent 
of  its  positive  institution.  What  fitter  time  to  converse 
with  our  Lord  than  on  that  day  which  he  hath  appro- 
priated to  such  employment,  and  therefore  called  it  the 
Lord's  day  ?  What  fitter  day  to  ascend  to  heaven  than 
that  on  which  our  Lord  did  arise  from  earth,  and  fully 
triumph  over  death  and  hell,  and  take  possession  of 
heaven  before  us  ? 

Two  sorts  of  Christians  I  would  entreat  to  take  notice 
of  this  especially. 

1.  Those  that  spend  the  Lord's  day  only  in  public 
worship ;  either  through  the  neglect  of  meditation,  or 
else  by  their  overmuch  exercise  of  the  public,  allowing 
no  time  to  private  duty :  though  there  be  few  that  oflend 
in  this  kind  ;  yet  some  there  are,  and  a  hurtful  mistake 
to  the  soul.it  is.  They  will  grow  but  in  gifts,  if  they 
exercise  but  their  gifts  in  outward  performances. 

3.  Those  that  have  time  on  the  Lord's  day  for  idle- 
ness and  vain  discourse,  and  find  the  day  longer  than 
they  know  how  well  to  spend :  were  these  but  ac- 
quainted with  this  duty  of  contemplation,  they  would 
need  no  other  recreation ;  they  would  think  the  longest 
day  short  enough,  and  be  sorry  that  the  night  had 
shortened  their  pleasure. 


THE  saints'  everlasting  REST.  279 

Secondly,  For  the  extraordinary  performance,  these 
following  are  seasonable  times  : — 

1.  When  God  doth  extraordinarily  revive  thy  spirit. 
When  God  hath  enkindled  thy  spirit  with  fire  frfrm 
above,  it  is  that  it  may  mount  aloft  more  freely.  It  is  a 
choice  part  of  a  Christian's  skill,  to  observe  the  temper 
of  his  own  spirit,  and  to  observe  the  gales  of  grace,  and 
how  the  Spirit  of  Christ  doth  move  upon  his.  "  With- 
out Christ  we  can  do  nothing :"  therefore  let  us  be  doing 
when  he  is  doing  ;  and  be  sure  not  to  be  out  of  the  way, 
nor  asleep,  when  he  comes.  A  little  labour  will  set  thy 
heart  a  going  at  such  a  time,  when  another  time  thou 
mayest  take  pains  to  little  purpose. 

2.  When  thou  art  cast  into  troubles  of  mind  through 
sufferings,  or  fear,  or  care,  or  temptations,  then  it  is  sea- 
sonable to  address  thyself  to  this  duty.  When  should 
we  take  our  cordials,  but  in  our  times  of  fainting  ?  When 
is  it  more  seasonable  to  walk  to  heaven  than  when  we 
know  not  in  what  corner  on  earth  to  live  with  com- 
fort ?  Or  when  should  our  thoughts  converse  above, 
but  when  they  have  nothing  but  grief  to  converse  with 
below  ? 

Another  fit  season  for  this  heavenly  duty  is,  when 
the  messengers  of  God  summon  us  to  die  :  when  either 
our  grey  hairs,  or  our  languishing  bodies,  or  some  such 
forerunners  of  death,  tell  us  that  our  change  cannot  be 
far  off;  when  should  We  more  frequently  sweeten  our 
souls  with  the  believing  thoughts  of  another  life,  than 
when  we  find  that  this  is  almost  ended,  and  when  flesh 
is  raising  fears  and  terrors  ?  Surely  no  men  have  greater 
need  of  supporting  joys  than  dying  men;  and  those  joys 
must  be  fetched  from  our  eternal  joy. 

It  now  follows  that  I  speak  a  word  of  the  fittest  place. 
Though  God  is  everywhere  to  be  found,  yet  some  places 
are  more  convenient  than  others. 

1.  As  this  is  a  private  and  spiritual  duty,  so  it  is  most 
convenient  that  thou  retire  to  some  private  place  :  our 
spirits  have  need  of  every  help,  and  to  be  freed  from 
every  hinderance  in  the  work.  For  occasional  medita- 
tion I  give  thee  not  this  advice  ;  but  for  set  and  solemn 
duty,  I  advise  that  thou  withdraw  thyself  from  all  soci- 
ety, that  thou  mayest  awhile  enjoy  the  society  of  Christ. 


280  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

And  as  I  advise  thee  to  a  place  of  retiredness,  so  also 
that  thou  observe  more  particularly,  what  place  or  pos- 
ture best  agreeth  with  thy  spirit ;  whether  within  door, 
or  without ;  whether  sitting  still,  or  walking.  I  believe 
Isaac's  example  in  this  also,  will  direct  us  to  the  place 
and  posture  which  will  best  suit  with  most,  as  it  doth 
with  me,  viz.,  "his  walking  forth  to  meditate  in  the 
fields  at  the  eventide."  And  Christ's  own  example 
gives  us  the  like  direction.  Christ  was  used  to  a  solitary 
garden  ;  and  though  he  took  his  disciples  thither  with 
him,  yet  did  he  separate  himself  from  them  for  more  se- 
cret devotions. 

I  am  next  to  advise  thee  somewhat  concerning  the 
preparations  of  thy  heart.  The  success  of  the  work 
doth  much  depend  on  the  frame  of  thy  heart.  When 
man's  heart  had  nothing  in  it  that  might  grieve  the 
Spirit,  then  was  it  the  delightful  habitation  of  his  Maker 
God  did  not  quit  his  residence  there  till  man  did  repel 
him  by  unworthy  provocations.  There  grew  no  strange- 
ness till  the  heart  grew  sinful,  and  too  loathsome  a  dun- 
geon for  God  to  delight  in.  And  were  this  soul  restored 
to  its  former  innocence,  God  would  quickly  return  to 
his  former  habitation ;  yea,  so  far  as  it  is  renewed  and 
repaired  by  the  Spirit,  the  Lord  will  yet  acknowledge 
it  his  own,  and  Christ  will  manifest  himself  unto  it,  and 
the  Spirit  will  take  it  for  its  temple  and  residence.  So 
far  as  the  soul  is  qualified  for  conversing  with  God,  so 
far  it  doth  actually  enjoy  him.  Therefore  "keep  thy 
heart  with  all  diligence,  for  from  thence  are  the  issues 
oflifeV 

More  particularly,  when  thou  settest  on  this  duty, 
1.  Get  thy  heart  as  clear  from  the  world  as  thou  canst; 
wholly  lay  by  the  thoughts  of  thy  business,  of  thy  trou- 
bles, of  thy  enjoyments,  and  of  every  thing  that  may  take 
up  any  room  in  thy  soul.  Get  thy  soul  as  empty  as 
possibly  thou  canst,  that  so  it  may  be  the  more  capable 
of  being  filled  with  God.  It  is  a  work  that  will  require 
all  the  powers  of  thy  soul,  if  they  were  a  thousand  times 
more  capacious  and  active  than  they  are,  and  therefore 
you  have  need  to  lay  by  all  other  thoughts  and  affections 
while  you  are  busied  here. 

3.  Be  sure  thou  set  upon  this  work  with  the  greatest 


THE   SAINTS     EVERLASTING   REST.  281 

seriousness  that  possibly  thou  canst.  Customariness 
here  is  a  killing  sin.  There  is  no  trifling  in  holy  things ; 
God  will  be  sanctified  of  all  that  draw  i\ear  him.  These 
spiritual  duties  are  the  most  dangerous,  if  we  miscarry 
in  them,  of  all.  The  more  they  advance  the  soul, 
being  well  used,  the  more  they  destroy  it,  being  used 
unfaithfully ;  as  the  best  meats  corrupted  are  the 
worst. 

To  help  thee,  therefore,  to  be  serious  when  thou  settest 
on  this  work,  first.  Labour  to  have  the  deepest  appre- 
hensions of  the  presence  of  God,  and  of  the  incompre- 
hensible greatness  of  the  majesty  which  thou  approach 
est.  Think  with  what  reverence  thou  shouldst  approach 
thy  Maker  :  think  thou  art  addressing  thyself  to  him 
"  that  made  the  worlds  with  the  word  of  his  mouth  ;  that 
upholds  the  earth  as  in  the  palm  of  his  hand  ;  that  keeps 
the  sun,  and  moon,  and  heaven,  in  their  courses ;  that 
bounds  the  raging  sea  with  the  sands,  and  saith.  Hitherto 
go,  and  no  farther."  Thou  art  going  to  converse  with 
him,  before  whom  the  earth  will  quake,  and  devils  trem- 
ble ;  before  whose  bar  thou  must  shortly  stand,  and  all 
the  world  with  thee,  to  receive  their  doom.  O  think,  I 
shall  then  have  lively  apprehensions  of  his  majesty;  my 
drowsy  spirits  will  then  be  wakened :  why  should  I  not 
now  be  roused  with  the  sense  of  his  greatness,  and  the 
dread  of  his  name  possess  my  soul  ? 

Secondly,  Labour  to  apprehend  the  greatness  of  the 
work  which  thou  attemptest,  and  to  be  deeply  sensible 
both  of  its  weight  and  height.  If  thou  wert  pleading 
for  thy  life  at  the  bar  of  a  judge,  thou  wouldst  be  seri- 
ous ;  and  yet  that  were  but  a  trifle  to  this.  If  thou  wert 
engaged  in  such  a  work  as  David  was  against  Goliath, 
whereon  the  kingdom's  deliverance  depended,  in  itself 
considered,  it  were  nothing  to  this.  Suppose  thou  wert 
going  to  such  a  wrestling  as  Jacob's  ;  suppose  thou 
wert  going  to  see  the  sight  which  the  three  disciples 
saw  in  the  mount ;  how  seriously,  how  reverently 
wouldst  thou  both  approach  and  behold  !  If  some  angel 
from  heaven  should  but  appoint  to  meet  thee,  at  the 
time  and  place  of  thy  contemplation,  how  apprehen- 
sively wouldst  thou  go  to  meet  him !  Why,  consider 
then  with  what  a  spirit  thou  shouldst  meet  the  Lord,  and 


282  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

with  what  seriousness  and  dread  thou  shouldst  daily  con- 
verse with  him. 

Consider  also  the  blessed  issue  of  the  work.  If  it 
succeed  it  will  be  an  admission  of  thee  into  the  presence 
of  God,  a  beginning  of  thy  eternal  glory  on  earth;  a 
means  to  make  thee  live  above  the  rate  of  other  men, 
and  admit  thee  into  the  next  room  to  the  angels  them- 
selves ;  a  means  to  make  thee  live  and  die  both  joyfully 
and  blessedly  :  so  that  the  prize  being  so  great,  thy  pre- 
paration should  be  answerable. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

WHAT  AFFECTIONS  MUST  BE  ACTED,  AND  BY  WHAT  CONSIDERA 
TIONS  AND  OBJECTS,  AND  IN  WHAT  ORDER. 

To  draw  the  heart  nearer  the  work,  the  next  thing 
to  be  discovered  is,  what  powers  of  the  soul  must  here 
be  acted,  what  affections  excited,  what  considerations 
are  necessary  thereto,  and  in  what  order  we  must  pro- 
ceed. 

1.  You  must  go  to  the  memory,  which  is  the  maga- 
zine or  treasury  of  the  understanding  ;  thence  you  must 
take  forth  those  heavenly  doctrines  which  you  intend  to 
make  the  subject  of  your  meditation.  For  the  present 
purpose,  you  may  look  over  any  promise  of  eternal  life 
in  the  Gospel ;  any  description  of  the  glory  of  the  saints, 
of  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  life  everlasting ; 
some  one  sentence  concerning  those  eternal  joys,  may 
afford  you  matter  for  many  years'  meditation  ;  yet  it  will 
be  a  point  of  wisdom  here,  to  have  always  a  stock  of 
matter  in  our  memory,  that  so  when  we  should  use  it 
we  may  bring  forth  out  of  our  treasury  things  new  and 
old.  If  we  took  things  in  order,  and  observed  some 
method  in  respect  of  the  matter,  and  did  meditate  first 
on  one  truth  concerning  eternity,  and  then  another,  it 
would  not  be  amiss.  And  if  any  should  be  barren  of 
matter  through  weakness  of  memory,  they  may  have 
notes  or  books  of  this  subject  for  their  fartherance. 

2.  When  you  have  fetched  from  your  memory  the 
matter  of  your  meditation,  your  next  work  is  to  present 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  283 

it  to  your  judgment ;  open  there  the  case  as  fully  as  thou 
canst,  set  forth  the  several  ornaments  of  the  crown,  the 
several  dignities  belonging  to  the  kingdom,  as  they  are 
partly  laid  open  in  the  beginning  of  this  book  ;  let  judg- 
ment deliberately  view  them  over,  and  take  as  exact  a 
survey  as  it  can ;  then  put  the  question,  and  require  a 
determination.  Is  there  happiness  in  all  this,  or  not  ? 
Is  not  here  enough  to  make  me  blessed  ?  Can  he  want 
any  thing,  who  fully  possesseth  God  ?  Is  there  any 
thing  higher  for  a  creature  to  attain  ?  Thus  urge  thy 
judgment  to  pass  an  upright  sentence,  and  compel  it  to 
subscribe  to  the  perfection  of  thy  celestial  happiness, 
and  to  leave  this  sentence  as  under  its  hand  upon  re- 
cord. 

Thus  exercise  thy  judgment  in  the  contemplation  of 
thy  rest;  thus  magnify  and  advance  the  Lord  in  thy 
heart,  till  a  holy  admiration  hath  possessed  thy  soul. 

3.  But  the  great  work,  which  you  may  either  pre- 
mise, or  subjoin  to  this  as  you  please,  is  to  exercise 
thy  belief  of  the  truth  of  thy  rest ;  and  that  both  in  re- 
spect of  the  truth  of  the  promise,  and  also  the  truth  of 
thy  own  interest  and  title.  As  unbelief  doth  cause  the 
languishing  of  all  our  graces  ;  so  faith  would  do  much 
to  revive  and  actuate  them,  if  it  were  but  revived  and 
actuated  itself. 

If  we  did  soundly  believe  that  there  is  such  a-  glory, 
that  within  a  few  days  our  eyes  shall  behold  it,  O  what 
passions  would  it  raise  within  us  !  Were  we  thoroughly 
persuaded  that  every  word  in  the  Scripture  concerning 
the  inconceivable  joys  of  the  kingdom,  and  the  inex- 
pressible blessedness  of  the  life  to  come,  were  the  very 
word  of  the  living  God,  and  should  certainly  be  per- 
formed to  the  smallest  tittle,  O  what  astonishing  appre- 
hensions of  that  life  would  it  breed  !  How  would  it 
actuate  every  affection!  How  would  it  transport  us 
with  joy  upon  the  least  assurance  of  our  title !  If  I 
were  as  verily  persuaded  that  I  shall  shortly  see  those 
great  things  of  eternity,  promised  in  the  word,  as  I  am 
that  this  is  a  chair  that  I  sit  in,  or  that  this  is  paper  that 
I  write  on,  would  it  not  put  another  spirit  within  me? 
Would  it  not  make  me  forget  and  despise  the  world? 
and  even  forget  to  sleep,  or  to  eat  ?  and  say,  as  Christ, 


284  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest 

"  I  have  meat  to  eat  that  ye  know  not  of?"    O  sirs,  you 
little  know  what  a  thorough  belief  would  work. 

Therefore  let  this  be  a  chief  part  of  thy  business  in 
meditation.  Read  over  the  promises ;  study  all  con- 
firming providences  ;  call  forth  thine  own  experiences  ; 
remember  the  scriptures  already  fulfilled  both  to  the 
Church  and  saints  in  the  former  ages,  and  eminently  to 
both  in  this  present  age,  and  those  that  have  been  fulfil- 
led particularly  to  thee. 

Set  before  your  faith  the  freeness  and  the  universality 
of  the  promise :  consider  God's  ofi*er,  and  urge  it  upon 
all,  that  he  hath  excepted  from  the  conditional  covenant 
no  man  in  the  world,  nor  will  exclude  any  from  heaven 
who  will  accept  of  his  offer.  Study  also  the  gracious 
disposition  of  Christ,  and  his  readiness  to  welcome  all 
that  will  come  :  study  all  the  evidences  of  his  love, 
which  appeared  in  his  suff'erings,  in  his  preaching  the 
Gospel,  in  his  condescension  to  sinners,  in  his  easy 
conditions,  in  his  exceeding  patience,  and  in  his  urgent 
invitations.  Do  not  all  these  discover  his  readiness  to 
save  ?  Did  he  ever  manifest  himself  unwilling  ?  Re- 
member also  his  faithfulness  to  perform  his  engage- 
ments. Study  also  the  evidences  of  his  love  in  thyself. 
Look  over  the  works  of  his  grace  in  thy  soul :  if  thou 
dost  not  find  the  degree  which  thou  desirest,  yet  deny 
not  that  degree  which  thou  findest.  Remember  what 
discoveries  of  thy  state  thou  hast  made  formerly  in  the 
work  of  self-examination.  Remember  all  the  former 
testimonies  of  the  Spirit ;  and  all  the  sweet  feelings  of 
the  favour  of  God  ;  and  all  the  prayers  that  he  hath 
heard  and  granted  ;  and  all  the  preservations  and  de- 
liverances ;  and  all  the  progress  of  his  Spirit  in  his 
workings  on  thy  soul,  and  the  disposals  of  Providence 
conducing  to  thy  good  ;  and  vouchsafing  of  means,  the 
directing  of  thee  to  them,  the  directing  of  ministers  to 
meet  with  thy  state,  the  restraint  of  those  sins  that  thy 
nature  was  most  prone  to.  Lay  these  all  together,  and 
then  think  with  thyself,  whether  all  these  do  not  testify 
the  good  will  of  the  Lord  concerning  thy  salvation  ? 
And  whether  thou  mayest  not  conclude  with  Samson's 
mother,  when  her  husband  thought  they  should  surely 
die,  "  If  the  Lord  were  pleased  to  kill  us  he  would  not 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  285 

have  received  an  offering  at  our  hands,  neither  would  he 
have  showed  us  all  these  things  ;  nor  would,  as  at  this 
time,  have  told  us  such  things  as  these,"  Judges  xiii, 
22,  23. 

2.  When  the  meditation  hath  thus  proceeded  about 
the  truth  of  thy  happiness,  the  next  part  of  the  work  is 
to  meditate  of  its  goodness ;  that  when  the  judgment 
hath  determined,  and  faith  hath  apprehended,  it  may- 
then  pass  on  to  raise  the  affections. 

1.  The  first  affection  to  be  acted  is  love ;  the  object 
of  it  is  goodness  :  here  then  is  the  reviving  part  of  thy 
work  :  go  to  thy  memory,  thy  judgment,  and  thy  faith, 
and  from  them  produce  the  excellences  of  thy  rest; 
take  out  a  copy  of  the  record  of  the  Spirit  in  Scripture, 
and  another  of  the  sentence  registered  in  thy  spirit, 
whereby  the  transcendent  glory  of  the  saints  is  de- 
clared ;  present  these  to  thy  affection  of  love ;  open  to 
it  the  cabinet  that  contains  the  pearl ;  show  it  the  pro- 
mise, and  that  which  it  assureth ;  thou  needest  not  look 
on  heaven  through  a  multiplying  glass ;  open  but  one 
casement  that  love  may  look  in  ;  give  it  but  a  glimpse 
of  the  back  parts  of  God,  and  thou  wilt  find  thyself  pre- 
sently in  another  world  :  do  but  speak  out,  and  love  can 
hear ;  do  but  reveal  these  things,  and  love  can  see ;  it 
is  the  brutish  love  of  the  world  that  is  blind  ^  Divine 
love  is  exceeding  quick-sighted.  Let  thy  faith,  as  it 
were,  take  thy  heart  by  the  hand,  and  show  it  the 
sumptuous  buildings  of  thy  eternal  habitation,  and  the 
glorious  ornaments  of  thy  Father's  house ;  show  it 
those  mansions  which  Christ  is  preparing,  and  display 
before  it  the  honours  of  the  kingdom ;  let  faith  lead 
thy  heart  into  the  presence  of  God,  and  draw  as  near  as 
possibly  thou  canst,  and  say  to  it,  "  Behold  the  Ancient 
of  days,  the  Lord  Jehovah,  whose  name  is  I  AM ;" 
this  is  he  who  made  the  worlds  with  his  word ;  this  is 
the  cause  of  all  causes,  the  spring  of  action,  the  fount- 
ain of  life,  the  first  principle  of  the  creature's  motions  ; 
who  upholds  the  earth,  who  ruleth  the  nations,  who  dis- 
poseth  of  events,  and  subdueth  his  foes ;  who  governeth 
the  depths  of  the  great  waters,  and  boundeth  the  rage 
of  her  swelling  waves ;  who  ruleth  the  winds,  and  mo- 
veth  the  orbs,  and  causeth  the  sun  to  run  its  race,  and 


286  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

the  several  planets  to  know  their  courses ;  this  is  he 
that  loved  thee  from  everlasting,  that  formed  thee  in 
the  womb,  and  gave  thee  this  soul  ;  who  brought  thee 
forth,  and  showed  thee  the  light,  and  ranked  thee  with 
the  chief  of  his  earthly  creatures  ;  who  endued  thee 
with  thy  understanding,  and  beautified  thee  with  his 
gifts ;  who  maintaineth  thee  with  life,  and  health,  and 
comforts  ;  who  gave  thee  thy  preferments,  and  dignified 
thee  with  thy  honours,  and  differenced  thee  from  the 
most  miserable  and  vilest  of  men.  Here,  O  here  is  an 
object  worthy  thy  love  ;  here  thou  mayest  be  sure  thou 
canst  not  love  too  much  ;  this  is  the  Lord  that  hath 
blessed  thee  with  his  benefits,  that  hath  spread  thy 
table  in  the  sight  of  thine  enemies,  and  caused  thy  cup 
to  overflow ;  this  is  he  that  angels  and  saints  praise, 
and  the  host  of  heaven  must  magnify  for  ever. 

Thus  do  thou  expatiate  in  the  praises  of  God,  and 
open  his  excellences  to  thine  own  heart,  till  thou  feel 
the  life  begin  to  stir,  and  the  fire  in  thy  breast  begin  to 
kindle  :  as  gazing  upon  the  dusty  beauty  of  flesh  doth 
kindle  the  fire  of  carnal  love ;  so  this  gazing  on  the 
glory  and  goodness  of  the  Lord  will  kindle  spiritual 
love.  What  though  thy  heart  be  rock  and  flint,  this 
often  striking  may  bring  forth  the  fire  ;  but  if  yet  thou 
feelest  not  thy  love  to  work,  lead  thy  heart  farther,  and 
show  it  yet  more ;  show  it  the  Son  of  the  living  God, 
whose  name  is  "  Wonderful,  Counsellor,  the  Mighty 
God,  the  Everlasting  Father,  the  Prince  of  peace ;" 
show  it  the  King  of  saints  on  the  throne  of  his  glory, 
*'  who  is,  and  was,  and  is  to  come  ;  who  liveth  and  was 
dead,  and  behold,  he  lives  for  evermore  ;  who  hath 
made  thy  peace  by  the  blood  of  his  cross,  and  hath  pre- 
pared thee.  Math  himself,  a  habitation  of  peace ;"  his 
office  is  to  be  the  great  peace-maker ;  his  kingdom  is 
a  kingdom  of  peace  ;  his  Gosjpel  is  the  tidings  of  peace  ; 
nis  voice  to  thee  now  is  the  voice  of  peace ;  draw  near 
and  behold  him  ;  dost  thou  not  hear  his  voice  ?  He 
that  called  Thomas  to  come  near  and  to  see  the  print 
of  the  nails,  and  to  put  his  finger  into  his  wounds,  he  it 
is  that  calls  to  thee.  Come  near  and  view  the  Lord  thy 
Saviour,  and  be  not  faithless,  but  believing ;  "  Peace  be 
unto  thee,  fear  not,  it  is  I ;"  he  that  calleth,  Behold  me, 


THE  saints'  everlasting  r^st.  287 

behold  me,  to  a  rebellious  people  that  called  not  on  his 
name,  doth  call  out  to  thee,  a  believer,  to  behold  him  ; 
he  that  calls  to  them  who  pass  by  to  behold  his  sorrow 
in  the  day  of  his  humiliation,  doth  call  now  to  thee,  to 
behold  his  glory  in  the  day  of  his  exaltation.  Look 
well  upon  him  :  dost  thou  not  know  him  ?  Why,  it  is 
he  that  brought  thee  up  from  the  pit  of  hell ;  it  is  he 
that  reversed  the  sentence  of  thy  damnation  ;  that  bore 
the  curse  which  thou  shouldst  have  borne,  and  restored 
to  thee  the  blessing  that  thou  hadst  forfeited,  and  pur- 
chased the  advancement  which  thou  must  inherit  for 
ever ;  and  yet  dost  thou  not  know  him  ?  Why,  his 
hands  were  pierced,  his  head  was  pierced,  his  sides 
were  pierced,  his  heart  was  pierced  with  the  sting  of 
thy  sins,  that  by  these  marks  thou  mayest  always  know 
him.  Dost  thou  not  remember  when  he  found  thee 
lying  in  thy  blood,  and  took  pity  on  thee,  and  dressed 
thy  wounds,  and  brought  thee  home,  and  said  unto 
thee,*  Live?  Hast  thou  forgotten  since  he  wounded 
himself  to  cure  thy  wounds,  and  let  out  his  own  blood 
to  stop  thy  bleeding?  Is  not  the  passage  to  his  heart 
yet  standing  open  ?  If  thou  know  him  not  by  the  face, 
the  voice,  the  hands  ;  if  thou  know  him  not  by  the  tears 
and  bloody  sweat,  yet  look  nearer,  thou  mayest  know 
him  by  the  heart ;  that  broken-healed  heart  is  his,  that 
dead-revived  heart  is  his,  that  pitying,  melting  heart  is 
his  ;  doubtless  it  can  be  none  but  his.  Love  and  com- 
passion are  its  certain  signatures ;  this  is  he,  even  this 
is  he,  who  would  rather  die  than  thou  shouldst  die ; 
who  chose  thy  life  before  his  own  ;  who  pleads  his 
blood  before  his  Father,  and  makes  continual  interces- 
sion for  thee.  If  he  had  not  suffered,  O  what  hadst 
thou  suffered  ?  What  hadst  thou  been,  if  he  had  not 
redeemed  thee?  Whither  hadst  thou  gone,  if  he  had 
not  recalled  thee  ?  There  was  but  one  step  between 
thee  and  hell,  when  he  stepped  in  and  bore  the  stroke ; 
he  slew  the  bear,  and  rescued  the  prey ;  he  delivered 
thy  soul  from  the  roaring  lion  ;  and  is  not  here  fuel 
enough  for  love  to  feed  on  ?  Doth  not  this  loadstone 
snatch  thy  heart,  and  almost  draw  it  forth  from  thy 
breast?  Canst  thou  read  the  history  of  love  any  far* 
ther  at  once  ?     Doth  not  thy  throbbing  heart  here  stop 


to  ease  itself;  and  dost  thou  not,  as  Joseph,  seek  for  a 
place  to  weep  in  ?  Or  do  not  the  tears  of  thy  love  be- 
dew these  lines  ?  Go,  then,  for  the  field  of  love  is  large 
it  will  yield  thee  fresh  contents  for  ever,  and  be  thine 
eternal  work  to  behold  and  love  ;  thou  needest  not  then 
want  work  for  thy  present  meditation. 

Hast  thou  forgotten  the  time  when  thou  wast  weep- 
ing, and  he  wiped  the  tears  from  thine  eyes?  when  thou 
wast  bleeding,  and  he  wiped  the  blood  from  thy  soul? 
when  pricking  cares  and  fears  did  grieve  thee,  and  he 
did  refresh  thee,  and  draw  out  the  thorns?  Hast  thou 
forgotten  when  thy  folly  wounded  thy  soul,  and  the  ve- 
nomous guilt  seized  upon  thy  heart?  when  he  sucked 
forth  the  mortal  poison  from  thy  soul,  though  therewith 
he  drew  it  into  his  own. 

I  remember  it  is  written  of  good  Melancthon,  that 
when  his  child  was  removed  from  him,  it  pierced  his 
heart  to  remember  how  he  once  sat  weeping,  with  the 
infant  on  his  knee,  and  how  lovingly  it  wiped  the  tears 
from  the  father's  eyes  :  how  then  should  it  pierce  thy 
heart  to  think  how  lovingly  Christ  hath  wiped  away 
thine  !  O  how  oft  hath  he  found  thee  sitting  weeping, 
like  Hagar,  while  thou  gavest  up  thy  state,  thy  Mends, 
thy  life,  yea,  thy  soul,  for  lost ;  and  he  opened  to  thee  a 
well  of  consolation,  and  opened  thine  eyes  also  that  thou 
mayest  see  it  ?  How  oft  hath  he  found  thee  in  the  pos- 
ture of  Elias,  sitting  under  the  tree  forlorn  and  solitary, 
and  desiring  rather  to  die  than  to  live ;  and  he  hath 
spread  thee  a  table  from  heaven,  and  sent  thee  away  re- 
freshed and  encouraged  ?  How  oft  hath  he  found  thee, 
as  the  servant  of  Elias,  crying  out,  "  Alas  !  what  shall 
we  do,  a  host  doth  compass  the  city  ?"  and  he  hath 
opened  thine  eyes  to  see  more  for  thee  than  against  thee, 
both  in  regard  of  the  enemies  of  thy  soul  and  thy  body? 
How  oft  hath  he  found  thee  in  such  a  passion,  as  Jonas, 
in  thy  peevish  frenzy,  weary  of  thy  life ;  and  he  hath 
not  answered  passion  with  passion,  though  he  might 
have  done  well  to  be  angry,  but  hath  mildly  reasoned 
thee  out  of  thy  madness,  and  said,  "  Dost  thou  well  to 
be  angry,"  or  to  repine  against  me  ?  How  oft  hath  he 
set  thee  on  watching  and  praying,  or  repenting  and  be- 
lieving, and  when  he  hath  returned,  hath  found  thee 


THE  saints'   everlasting  REST.  289 

fast  asleep?  and  yet  he  hath  not  taken  thee  at  the  worst, 
but  instead  of  an  angry  aggravation  of  thy  fault,  he  hath 
covered  it  over  Avith  the  mantle  of  love,  and  prevented 
thy  overmuch  sorrow  with  a  gentle  excuse,  "  the  spirit 
is  willing,  but  the  flesh  is  weak."  He  might  have  done 
by  thee,  as  Epaminondas  by  his  soldier,  who,  finding 
him  asleep  upon  the  watch,  run  him  through  with  his 
sword,  and  said,  "  Dead  I  found  thee,  and  dead  I  leave 
thee :"  but  he  rather  chose  to  awake  thee  more  gently, 
that  his  tenderness  might  admonish  thee,  and  keep  thee 
watching.  How  oft  hath  he  been  traduced  in  his  cause, 
or  name,  and  thou  hast,  like  Peter,  denied  him  (at  least 
by  thy  silence)  while  he  hath  stood  in  sight?  Yet  all 
the  revenge  he  hath  taken,  hath  been  a  heart-melting 
look,  and  a  silent  remembering  thee  of  thy  fault  by  his 
countenance.  How  oft  hath  conscience  haled  thee  be- 
fore him,  as  the  Pharisees  did  the  adulterous  Avoman  ; 
and  laid  most  heinous  crimes  to  thy  charge  ?  And  when 
thou  hast  expected  to  hear  the  sentence  of  death,  he 
hath  shamed  away  the  accusers,  and  put  them  to  silence, 
and  said  to  thee,  "  Neither  do  I  condemn  thee  ;  go  thy 
way,  and  sin  no  more." 

And  art  thou  not  yet  transported  with  love?  Can  thy 
heart  be  cold,  when  thou  thinkest  of  this,  or  can  it  hold 
when  thou  rememberest  those  boundless  compassions  ? 
Rememberest  thou  not  the  time  when  he  met  thee  in 
thy  duties  ;  when  he  smiled  upon  thee,  and  spake  com- 
fortably to  thee  ?  when  thou  didst  "  sit  under  his  sha- 
dow with  great  delight,  and  when  his  fruit  was  sweet  to 
thy  taste  ?"  when  "  he  brought  thee  to  his  banqueting 
hou^e,  and  his  banner  over  thee  was  love  ?"  when  "  his 
left  hand  was  under  thy  head,  and  with  his  right  hand 
he  did  embrace  thee  ?"  And  dost  thou  not  yet  cry  out, 
"  Stay  me,  comfort  me,  for  I  am  sick  of  love  ?"  Thus  I 
would  have  thee  deal  with  thy  heart ;  thus  hold  forth 
the  goodness  of  Christ  to  thy  aflfections  ;  plead  thus  the 
case  with  thy  frozen  soul,  till  thou  say  as  David  in  ano- 
ther case,  "  My  heart  was  hot  within  me." 

If  these  arguments  will  not  rouse  up  thy  love,  thou 
hast  more  of  this  nature  at  hand  :  thou  hast  all  Christ's 
personal  excellences  to  study  ;  thou  hast  all  his  parti- 
cular mercies  to  thyself;  thou  hast  all  his  sweet  and 

13 


290  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

near  relations  to  thee ;  and  thou  hast  the  happiness  of 
thy  perpetual  abode  with  him  hereafter.  All  these  offer 
themselves  to  thy  meditation,  with  all  their  several 
branches.  Only  follow  them  close  to  thy  heart,  ply  the 
work,  and  let  it  not  cool :  deal  with  thy  heart,  as  Christ 
did  with  Peter  when  he  asked  thrice  over,  "  Lovest  thou 
me?"  till  he  was  grieved,  and  answered,  "Lord,  thou 
knowest  that  I  love  thee."  So  say  to  thy  heart,  Lovest 
thou  the  Lord  ?  and  ask  it  the  second  time,  and  urge  it 
the  third  time,  Lovest  thou  the  Lord?  till  thou  grieve  it, 
and  shame  it  out  of  its  stupidity,  and  it  can  truly  say, 
Thou  knowest  that  I  love  him. 

2.  The  next  affection  to  be  excited  is  desire.  The 
object  of  it  is  goodness  not  yet  attained  This  being 
so  necessary  an  attendant  of  love,  and  being  excited 
much  by  the  same  considerations,  I  suppose  you  need 
the  less  direction,  and  therefore  I  shall  touch  but  briefly 
on  this  ;  if  love  be  hot,  desire  will  not  be  cold. 

When  thou  hast  thus  viewed  the  goodness  of  the 
Lord,  and  considered  the  pleasures  that  are  at  his  right 
hand,  then  proceed  on  thy  meditation  thus  :  think  with 
thyself,  Where  have  I  been  ?  what  have  I  seen  ?  O  the 
incomprehensible,  astonishing  glory !  O  the  rare  tran- 
scendent beauty  !  O  blessed  souls  that  now  enjoy  it ! 
that  see  a  thousand  times  more  clearly  what  I  have  seen 
but  darkly  at  this  distance,  and  scarce  discern  through  the 
interposing  clouds  !  VVhat  a  difference  is  there  betwixt 
my  state  and  theirs !  I  am  sighing,  and  they  are  sing- 
ing :  1  am  sinning,  and  they  are  pleasing  God  :  I  have 
an  ulcerated  soul,  like  the  loathsome  bodies  of  Job  and 
Lazarus,  but  they  are  perfect,  and  without  blemish  :  I 
am  here  entangled  in  the  love  of  the  world,  when  they 
are  taken  up  with  the  love  of  God:  I  live  indeed  among 
the  means  of  grace,  and  I  possess  the  fellowship  of  my 
fellow  believers  ;  but  I  have  none  of  their  immediate 
views  of  God,  none  of  that  fellowship  that  they  possess  : 
they  have  none  of  my  cares  and  fears ;  they  weep  not  in 
secret ;  they  languish  not  in  sorrows  ;  all  tears  are 
wiped  away  from  their  eyes.  O  what  a  feast  hath  my 
faith  beheld,  and  what  a  famine  is  yet  in  my  spirit !  I 
have  seen  a  glimpse  of  the  court  of  God  ;  but,  alas,  1 
stand  but  as  a  beggar  at  the  doors,  when  the  souls  of 


THE    SAINTS^    EVERLASTING    REST.  291 

my  compannions  are  admitted  in.  O  blessed  souls !  I 
may  not,  I  dare  not,  envy  your  happiness  ;  I  rather  re- 
joice in  my  brethren's  prosperity,  and  am  glad  to  think 
of  the  day  when  I  shall  be  admitted  into  your  fellow- 
ship. But  O  that  I  were  so  happy  as  to  be  in  your 
place  ;  not  to  displace  you,  but  to  rest  there  with  you. 
Why  must  I  stay  and  groan,  and  weep,  and  wait  ?  My 
Lord  is  gone,  he  hath  left  this  earth,  and  is  entered  into 
his  glory :  my  brethren  are  gone,  my  friends  are  there, 
my  house,  my  hope,  my  all,  is  there  :  and  must  I  stay 
behind  to  sojourn  here  ?  "What  precious  saints  have 
left  this  earth  !  If  the  saints  were  all  here,  if  Christ 
were  here,  then  it  were  no  grief  for  me  to  stay  ;  but 
when  my  soul  is  so  far  distant  from  my  God,  wonder  not 
if  I  now  complain  ;  an  ignorant  Micah  will  do  so  for 
his  idol,  and  shall  not  my  soul  do  so  for  God  ?  And 
yet  if  I  had  no  hope  of  enjoying,  I  would  go  and  hide 
myself  in  the  deserts,  and  spend  my  days  in  fruitless 
w:ishes  ;  but  seeing  it  is  the  promised  land,  the  state  I 
must  be  advanced  to  myself,  and  my  soul  draws  near, 
and  is  almost  at  it,  I  will  live  and  long  ;  I  will  look  and 
desire  ;  I  will  breathe  out.  How  long,  Lord,  how  long  ! 
How  long,  Lord,  holy  and  true,  wilt  thou  suffer  this 
soul  to  pant  and  groan !  and  wilt  not  open  and  let  him 
in,  who  waits  and  longs  to  be  with  thee ! 

Thus,  reader,  let  thy  thoughts  aspire  :  thus  whet  the 
desires  of  thy  soul  by  meditation  ;  till  thy  soul  long  (as 
David's  for  the  waters  of  Bethlehem)  and  say,  "  O  that 
one  would  give  me  to  drink  of  the  wells  of  salvation  !" 
and  till  thou  canst  say  as  he,  "  I  have  longed  for  thy 
salvation,  O  Lord !" 

3.  The  next  affection  to  be  acted,  is  hope.  This  is 
of  singular  use  to  the  soul.  It  helpeth  exceedingly  to 
support  it  in  sufferings  ;  it  encourageth  it  to  adventure 
upon  the  greatest  difficulties  ;  it  firmly  establisheth  it 
in  the  most  shaking  trials  ;  and  it  mightily  enlivens  the 
soul  in  duties. 

Let  faith  then  show  thee  the  truth  of  the  promise,  and 
judgment  the  goodness  of  the  thing  promised  ;  and  what 
then  is  wanting  for  the  raising  thy  hope?  Show  thy 
soul  from  the  word,  and  from  the  mercies,  and  from  the 
nature  of  God,  what  possibility,  yea,  what  probability, 


292  THE   SAINTS     EVERLASTING  REST. 

yea,  what  certainty,  thou  hast  of  possessing  the  crown. 
Think  thus,  and  reason  thus  wfth  thy  own  heart :  why 
should  I  not  confidently  and  comfortably  hope,  when 
my  soul  is  in  the  hands  of  so  compassionate  a  Saviour, 
and  when  the  kingdom  is  at  the  disposal  of  so  bounteous 
a  God  ?  Did  he  ever  manifest  any  backAvardness  to  my 
good,  or  discover  the  least  inclination  to  my  ruin  ? 
Hath  he  not  sworn  to  the  contrary  to  me  in  his  word, 
that  he  delights  not  in  the  death  of  him  that  dieth,  but 
rather  that  he  should  repent  and  live  ?  Have  not  all  his 
dealings  with  me  witnessed  the  same  ?  Did  he  not  mind 
me  of  my  danger  when  I  never  feared  it  ?  And  why 
was  this,  if  he  would  not  have  me  escape  it  ?  Did  he 
not  mind  me  of  my  happiness  when  I  had  no  thoughts 
of  it?  And  why  was  this,  but  that  he  would  have  me 
to  enjoy  it  ?  I  have  been  ashamed  of  my  hope  in  the 
arm  of  flesh,  but  hope  in  the  promise  of  God  maketh 
not  ashamed  :  I  will  say,  therefore,  in  my  greatest  suf- 
ferings, "  The  Lord  is  my  portion,  therefore  will  I  hope 
in  him.  The  Lord  is  good  to  them  that  wait  for  him,  to 
the  soul  that  seeketh  him ;  it  is  good  that  I  both  hope, 
and  quietly  wait,  for  the  salvation  of  the  Lord.  The 
Lord  will  not  cast  off  for  ever ;  but  though  he  cause 
grief,  yet  will  he  have  compassion,  according  to  the 
multitude  of  his  mercies."  Though  I  languish  and  die, 
yet  will  I  hope  ;  for  he  hath  said,  "  The  righteous  hath 
hope  in  his  death."  Though  I  must  lie  down  in  dust 
and  darkness,  yet  there  "  my  flesh  shall  rest  in  hope." 
And  when  my  flesh  hath  nothing  in  which  it  may  re- 
joice, yet  will  I  keep  "  the  rejoicing  of  hope  firm  to  the 
end." 

4.  The  last  affection  to  be  acted,  is  joy.  This  is  the 
end  of  all  the  rest ;  love,  desire,  hope,  tend  to  the  rais- 
ing of  our  joy.  And  is  it  nothing  to  have  a  deed  of  gift 
from  God  ?  Are  his  infallible  promises  no  ground  of 
joy  ?  Is  it  nothing  to  live  in  daily  expectation  of  enter- 
ing into  the  kingdom  ?  Is  not  my  assurance  of  being 
glorified  one  day,  a  sufl[icient  ground  for  inexpressible 
joy  ?  Is  it  no  delight  to  the  heir  of  a  kingdom,  to  think 
of  what  he  must  hereafter  possess,  though  at  present  he 
Kttle  diflfer  from  a  servant  ?  Am  I  not  commanded  "  to 
rejoice  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God  ?" 


THE  saints'   everlasting  REST.  295 

Here  lake  thy  heart  once  again,  as  it  were,  by  the 
hand,  bring  it  to  the  top  of  the  highest  mount;  show  it 
the  "  kingdom  of  Christ,  and  the  glory  of  it ;"  say  to  it, 
"  All  this  will  thy  Lord  bestow  upon  thee,  who  hast  be- 
lieved in  him,  and  been  a  worshipper  of  him.  It  is  the 
Father's  good  pleasure  to  give  thee  this  kingdom."' 
Seest  thou  this  astonishing  glory  above  thee  ?  Why  all 
this  is  thy  own  inheritance.  This  crown  is  thine,  these 
pleasures  are  thine,  because  thou  art  Christ's,  and  Christ 
is  thine  ;  when  thou  wert  married  to  him,  thou  hadst  all 
this  with  him. 

Thus  take  thy  heart  into  the  land  of  promise ;  show- 
it  the  pleasant  hills  and  fruitful  valleys ;  show  it  the 
clusters  of  grapes  which  thou  hast  gathered,  and  by 
those  convince  it  that  it  is  a  blessed  land,  flowing  with 
better  than  milk  and  honey :  enter  the  gates  of  the 
holy  city,  walk  through  the  streets  of  the  New  Jerusa- 
lem, walk  about  Sion,  go  around  about  her,  tell  the 
towers  thereof,  mark  well  her  bulwarks,  consider  her 
palaces,  that  thou  mayest  tell  it  to  thy  soul:  "The 
foundation  is  garnished  with  precious  stones ;  the 
twelve  gates  are  twelve  pearls  ;  the  street  of  the  city  is 
pure  gold,  as  it  were  transparent  glass  ;  there  is  no 
temple  in  it,  for  the  Lord  God  Almighty  and  the  Lamb* 
are  the  temple  of  it.  It  hath  no  need  of  sun  or  moon 
to  shine  in  it,  for  the  glory  of  God  doth  lighten  it,  and 
the  Lamb  is  the  light  thereof,  and  the  nations  of  them 
which  are  saved  shall  walk  in  the  light  of  it."  This  is- 
thy  rest,  O  my  soul,  and  this  must  be  the  place  of  thy 
everlasting  habitation :  "  Let  all  the  sons  of  Sion  then 
rejoice,  and  the  daughters  of  Jerusalem  be  glad:  for 
great  is  the  Lord,  and  greatly  is  he  praised  in  the  city 
of  our  God  :  beautiful  for  situation,  the  joy  of  the  whole 
earth,  is  Mount  Sion  ;  God  is  known  in  her  palaces  for 
a  refuge." 

Yet  proceed  :  "  The  soul,"  saith  Austin,  "  that  loves, 
ascends  frequently,  and  runs  familiarly  through  the 
streets  of  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  visiting  the  patri- 
archs and  prophets,  saluting  the  apostles,  and  admiring 
the  armies  of  martyrs  and  confessors."  So  do  thou- 
lead  on  thy  heart  as  from  street  to  street,  bringing  it 
into  the  palace  of  the  great  King ;  lead  it,  as  it  were,. 


294  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

from  chamber  to  chamber  ;  say  to  it,  Here  must  I  lodge, 
here  must  I  live,  here  must  I  love,  and  be  loved.  I 
must  shortly  be  one  of  this  heavenly  choir,  I  shall  then 
be  better  skilled  in  the  music  ;  among  this  blessed  com- 
pany must  I  take  my  place  ;  my  tears  will  then  be 
wiped  away  ;  there  it  is  that  trouble  and  lamentation 
cease,  and  the  voice  of  sorrow  is  not  heard.  O  when  I 
look  upon  this  glorious  place  what  a  dungeon  methinks 
is  earth  !  O  what  a  difference  betwixt  a  man  feeble, 
pained,  groaning,  dying,  rotting  in  the  grave,  and  one 
of  these  triumphant,  blessed,  shining  saints !  Here 
"  shall  I  drink  then  of  the  river  of  pleasure,  the  streams 
whereof  make  glad  the  city  of  God.  For  the  Lord  will 
create  a  new  earth,  and  the  former  shall  not  be  remem- 
bered ;  we  shall  be  glad  and  rejoice  for  ever  in  that 
which  he  creates ;  for  he  will  create  Jerusalem  a  re- 
joicing, and  her  people  a  joy  ;  and  he  will  rejoice  in 
Jerusalem,  and  joy  in  his  people,  and  the  voice  of  weep- 
ing shall  be  no  more  heard  in  her,  nor  the  voice  of  cry- 
ing ;  there  shall  be  no  more  thence  an  infant  of  days, 
nor  an  old  man,  that  hath  not  filled  his  days." 

Why  do  I  not  then  arise  from  the  dust,  and  lay  aside 
my  sad  complaints,  and  cease  my  mourning  ?  Why  do 
I  not  trample  down  vain  delights,  and  feed  upon  the 
foreseen  delights  of  glory  ?  Why  is  not  my  life  a  con- 
tinual joy  ?  and  the  favour  of  Heaven  perpetually  upon 
my  spirit  ? 

I  do  not  place  any  flat  necessity  in  thy  acting  all  the 
forementioned  affections  in  this  order  at  one  time,  or  in 
one  duty :  perhaps  thou  mayest  sometime  feel  some 
one  of  thy  affections  more  flat  than  the  rest,  and  so  to 
have  more  need  of  exciting ;  or  thou  mayest  find  one 
stirring  more  than  the  rest,  and  so  think  it  more  sea- 
sonable to  help  it  forward  ;  or  if  thy  time  be  short,  thou 
mayest  work  upon  one  affection  one  day,  and  upon  an- 
other the  next,  as  thou  findest  cause  ;  all  this  I  leave  to 
thy  own  prudence. 


295 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

SOME    ADVANTAGES    AND    HELPS    FOR    RAISING    THE    SOUL    BY 
MEDITATION. 

The  next  part  of  this  directory  is  to  show  you  what 
advantages  you  should  take,  and  what  helps  you  should 
use,  to  make  your  meditations  of  heaven  more  quicken- 
ing, and  to  make  you  taste  the  sweetness  that  is  therein. 
For  this  is  the  main  work,  that  you  may  not  stick  in  a 
bare  thinking,  but  may  have  the  lively  sense  of  all  upon 
your  hearts :  and  this  you  will  find  to  be  the  most  diffi- 
cult part  of  the  work.  It  is  easier  to  think  of  heaven  a 
whole  day  than  to  be  lively  and  affectionate  in  those 
thoughts  one  quarter  of  an  hour.  Therefore  let  us  yet 
a  little  farther  consider  what  may  be  done  to  make  your 
thoughts  of  heaven  piercing,  affecting  thoughts. 

It  will  be  a  point  of  spiritual  prudence,  and  a  singu- 
lar help  to  the  farthering  of  faith,  to  call  in  our  senses  to 
its  assistance  :  if  we  can  make  us  friends  of  those  usual 
enemies,  and  make  them  instruments  of  raising  us  to 
God,  which  are  the  usual  means  of  drawing  us  from 
God,  we  shall  perform  a  very  excellent  work.  Sure  it 
is  both  possible  and  lawful  to  do  something  in  this 
kind  ;  for  God  would  not  have  given  us  either  senses 
themselves,  or  their  usual  objects,  if  they  might  not 
have  been  serviceable  to  his  own  praise,  and  helps  to 
raise  us.  to  the  apprehension  of  higher  things  :  and  it  is 
very  considerable  how  the  Holy  Ghost  doth  conde- 
scend, in  the  phrase  of  Scripture,  in  bringing  things 
down  to  the  reach  of  sense  ;  how  it  sets  forth  the  excel 
lences  of  spiritual  things  in  words  that  are  borrowed 
from  the  objects  of  sense.  Doubtless,  if  such  expres- 
sions had  not  been  best,  and  to  us  necessary,  the  Holy 
Ghost  would  not  have  so  frequently  used  them  :  he  that 
will  speak  to  man's  understanding,  must  speak  in  man's 
language,  and  speak  that  which  he  is  capable  to  con- 
ceive. 

1.  Go  to  then  ;  when  thou  settest  thyself  to  meditate 
on  the  joys  above,  think  on  them  boldly  as  Scripture 
hath  expressed  them ;  bring  down  thy  conceivings  to 


296  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

the  reach  of  sense.  Excellence,  without  familiarity, 
doth  more  amaze  than  delight  us ;  but  love  and  joy  are 
promoted  by  familiar  acquaintance  :  when  we  go  about 
to  think  of  God  and  glory  without  these  spectacles  we 
are  lost,  and  have  nothing  to  fix  our  thoughts  upon  ; 
we  set  God  and  heaven  so  far  from  us  that  our  thoughts 
are  strange,  and  we  look  at  them  as  things  beyond  our 
reach,  and  are  ready  to  say  that  which  is  above  is 
nothing  to  us  :  to  conceive  no  more  of  God  and  glory 
but  that  we  cannot  conceive  them ;  and  to  apprehend 
no  more  but  that  they  are  past  apprehension,  will  pro- 
duce no  more  love  but  this,  to  acknowledge  that  they 
are  so  far  above  us  that  we  cannot  love  them  ;  and  no 
more  joy  but  this,  that  they  are  above  our  rejoicing. 
And  therefore  put  Christ  no  farther  from  you  than  he 
hath  put  himself,  lest  the  Divine  nature  be  again  inac- 
cessible. Think  of  Christ  as  in  our  own  nature  glori- 
fied ;  think  of  our  fellow  saints  as  men  there  perfected ; 
think  of  the  city  and  state  as  the  Spirit  hath  expressed 
it,  only  with  caution.  Suppose  thou  wert  now  behold- 
ing this  city  of  God,  and  that  thou  hadst  been  a  com- 
panion with  John  in  his  survey  of  its  glory,  and  hadst 
seen  the  thrones,  the  majesty,  the  heavenly  hosts,  the 
shining  splendour,  which  he  saw  :  draw  as  strong  sup- 
positions as  may  be  from  thy  sense  for  the  helping  of 
thy  affections  :  it  is  lawful  to  suppose  we  did  see  for 
the  present  that  which  God  hath  in  prophecies  revealed, 
and  which  we  must  really  see  in  more  unspeakable 
brightness  before  long.  Suppose,  therefore,  with  thy- 
self thou  hadst  been  that  apostle's  fellow  traveller  into 
the  celestial  kingdom,  and  that  thou  hadst  seen  all  the 
saints  in  their  white  robes,  with  palms  in  their  hands : 
suppose  thou  hadst  heard  those  songs  of  Moses  and  of 
the  Lamb ;  or  didst  even  now  hear  them  praising  and 
glorifying  the  living  God  :  if  thou  hadst  seen  these 
things  indeed  in  what  a  rapture  wouldst  thou  have 
been  !  And  the  more  seriously  thou  puttest  this  sup- 
position to  thyself,  the  more  will  the  meditation  elevate 
thy  heart. 

I  would  not  have  thee,  as  the  Papists,  draw  them  in 
pictures,  nor  use  such  ways  to  represent  them.  This, 
as  it  is  a  course  forbidden  by  God,  so  it  would  but  se- 


THE   saints'   EVERLAStiNG  REST.  29T 

duce  and  draw  down  thy  heart :  but  get  the  liveliest 
picture  of  them  in  thy  mind  that  possibly  thou  canst ; 
meditate  on  them,  as  if  thou  wert  all  the  while  behold- 
ing them,  and  as  if  thou  wert  even  hearing  the  halle- 
lujahs ;  till  thou  canst  say,  Methinks  I  see  a  glimpse 
of  the  glory  !  Methinks  I  hear  the  shouts  of  joy  and 
praise  !  Methinks  I  even  stand  by  Abraham  and  Da- 
vid, Peter  and  Paul,  and  more  of  these  triumphing 
souls !  Methinks  I  see  the  Son  of  God  appearing  in 
the  clouds,  and  the  world  standing  at  his  bar  to  receive 
their  doom  !  Methinks  I  hear  him  say,  *'  Come,  ye 
blessed  of  my  Father  ;"  and  see  "  them  go  rejoicing 
into  the  joy  of  their  Lord  !"  My  very  dreams  of  these 
things  have  deeply  affected  me  ;  and  should  not  these 
just  suppositions  affect  me  much  more  ?  What  if  I  had 
seen  with  Paul  those  unutterable  things ;  should  I  not 
have  been  exalted  (and  that  perhaps  above  measure)  as 
well  as  he  ?  What  if  I  had  stood  in  the  room  of  Ste- 
phen, and  seen  heaven  opened,  and  Christ  sitting  at  the 
right  hand  of  God  ?  Surely,  that  one  sight  was  worth 
the  suffering  his  storm  of  stones.  O  that  I  might  but 
see  what  he  did  see,  though  I  also  suffered  what  he  did 
suffer!  What  if  I  had  seen  such  a  sight  as  Micaiah 
saw  ?  "  The  Lord  sitting  upon  his  throne,  and  all  the 
hosts  of  heaven  standing  on  his  right  hand  and  on  his 
left."  Why,  these  men  of  God  did  see  such  things ; 
and  I  shall  shortly  see  far  more  than  ever  they  saw,  till 
they  were  loosed  from  the  flesh,  as  I  must  be.  And 
thus  you  see  how  the  familiar  conceiving  of  the  state 
of  blessedness,  as  the  Spirit  hath  in  a  condescending 
language  expressed  it,  and  our  strong  suppositions 
raised  from  our  bodily  senses  will  farther  our  affections 
in  this  heavenly  work. 

2.  There  is  yet  another  way  by  which  we  may  make 
our  senses  serviceable  to  us,  and  that  is,  by  comparing 
the  objects  of  sense  with  the  objects  of  faith ;  and  so 
forcing  sense  to  afford  us  that  medium  from  whence 
we  may  conclude  the  transcendent  worth  of  glory,  by 
arguing  from  sensitive  delights  as  from  the  less  to  the 
greater.  And  here,  for  your  farther  assistance,  I  shall 
furnish  you  with  some  of  these  comparative  arguments. 

And  I,  You  must  strongly  argue  with  your  hearts 
13* 


298  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

from  the  corrupt  delights  of  sensual  men.  Think,  then, 
with  yourselves  when  you  would  be  sensible  of  the  joys 
above  :  is  it  such  a  delight  to  a  sinner  to  live  with  God  ? 
Hath  a  drunkard  such  delight  in  his  cups  and  compa- 
nions that  the  very  fears  of  damnation  will  not  make  him 
forsake  them  ?  Sure,  then,  there  are  high  delights  with 
God  !  If  the  way  to  hell  can  afford  such  pleasure,  what 
are  the  pleasures  of  the  saints  in  heaven  ? 

2.  Compare  also  the  delights  above  with  the  lawful 
delights  of  sense.  Think  with  thyself,  How  sweet  is 
food  to  my  taste  when  lam  hungry  !  especially,  as  Isaac 
said,  "  that  which  my  soul  loveth."  What  delight  hath 
the  taste  in  some  pleasant  fruits,  in  some  well  relished 
meats  !  O  what  delight  then  must  my  soul  have  in 
feeding  upon  Christ,  the  living  bread  !  and  in  eating 
with  him  at  his  table  in  his  kingdom  !  How  pleasant 
is  drink  in  the  extremity  of  thirst !  Then  how  delight- 
ful will  it  be  to  my  soul  "  to  drink  of  that  fountain  of 
living  water  which  whoso  drinks  shall  thirst  no  more!" 

3.  Compare  also  the  delights  above  with  the  delights 
that  are  found  in  natural  knowledge.  This  is  far  beyond 
the  delights  of  sense,  and  the  delights  of  heaven  are 
farther  beyond  it.  Think,  then,  can  an  Archimedes  be 
so  taken  up  with  his  mathematical  invention,  that  the 
threats  of  death  cannot  take  him  off?  Should  I  not 
much  more  be  taken  up  with  the  delights  of  glory,  and 
die  with  these  contemplations  fresh  upon  my  soul  ;  es- 
pecially when  my  death  will  perfect  my  delights  ?  But 
those  of  Archimedes  die  with  him.  What  a  pleasure  is 
it  to  dive  into  the  secrets  of  nature  !  to  find  out  the 
mysteries  of  arts  and  sciences  !  If  we  make  but  any 
new  discovery  in  one  of  these,  what  singular  pleasure 
do  we  find  therein  !  Think,  then,  what  high  delights 
there  are  in  the  knowledge  of  God  and  Christ !  If  the 
face  of  human  learning  be  so  beautiful  that  sensual 
pleasures  are  to  it  but  base  and  brutish  ;  how  beautiful 
then  is  the  face  of  God  !  When  we  light  on  some  choice 
and  learned  book,  how  are  we  taken  with  it !  we  could 
read  and  study  it  day  and  night ;  we  can  leave  meat, 
and  drink,  and  sleep,  to  read  it ;  what  delights  then  are 
there  at  God's  right  hand,  where  we  shall  know  in  a 
moment  more  than  any  mortal  can  know ! 


THE  saints'  everlasting  REST.  290 

4.  Compare  also  the  delights  above  with  the  delights 
of  morality,  and  of  the  natural  affections.  What  delight 
had  many  sober  heathens  in  the  practice  of  moral 
duties ;  so  that  they  took  him  only  for  an  honest  man 
who  did  well  through  the  love  of  virtue,  and  not  only 
for  fear  of  punishment :  yea,  so  highly  did  they  value 
virtue,  that  they  thought  the  chief  happiness  of  man 
consisted  in  it.  Think,  then,  what  excellence  there  will 
be  in  that  rare  perfection  which  we  shall  be  raised  to  in 
heaven  ;  and  in  that  uncreated  perfection  of  God  which 
we  shall  behold  !  What  sweetness  is  there  in  the  exer- 
cise of  natural  love  :  whether  to  children,  to  parents,  to 
yokefellows,  or  to  friends  !  The  delight  which  special, 
faithful  friends  find  in  loving  and  enjoying  one  another, 
is  a  most  pleasing,  sweet  delight :  even  Christ  himself, 
as  it  seemeth,  had  some  of  this  kind  of  love,  for  he  had 
one  disciple  whom  he  especially  loved.  Think,  then, 
if  the  delights  of  cordial  friendship  be  so  great,  what 
delights  shall  we  have  in  the  friendship  of  the  Most 
High,  and  in  our  mutual  amity  with  Jesus  Christ,  and  in 
the  dearest  love  and  comfort  with  the  saints  ?  Surely 
this  will  be  a  closer  and  stricter  friendship  than  ever 
was  betwixt  any  friends  on  earth  ;  and  these  will  be 
more  lovely  and  desirable  friends  than  any  that  ever  the 
sun  beheld  :  and  both  our  affections  to  our  Father,  and 
our  Saviour,  but  especially  his  affection  to  us,  will  be 
such  as  here  we  never  knew  ;  as  spirits  are  so  far  more 
powerful  than  flesh,  that  one  angel  can  destroy  a  host, 
so  also  are  their  affections  more  strong  and  powerful : 
we  shall  then  love  a  thousand  times  more  strongly  and 
sweetly  than  now  we  can  ;  and  as  all  the  attributes  and 
works  of  God  are  incomprehensible,  so  are  the  attributes 
and  work  of  love  :  he  will  love  us  many  thousand  times 
more  than  we,  even  at  the  perfectest,  are  able  to  love 
him  :  what  joy  then  will  there  be  in  this  mutual  love? 

5.  Compare  also  the  excellences  of  heaven  with  those 
glorious  works  of  the  creation  which  our  eyes  now  be- 
hold. What  a  deal  of  wisdom,  and  power,  and  good- 
ness, appeareth  in  and  through  them  to  a  wise  observer! 
What  a  deal  of  the  majesty  of  the  great  Creator  doth 
shine  in  the  face  of  this  fabric  of  the  world  !  Surely  his 
works  are  great  and  admirable,  sought  out  of  them  that 


300  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

have  pleasure  therein.  This  makes  the  study  of  natu- 
ral philosophy  so  pleasant,  because  the  works  of  God 
are  so  excellent :  what  rare  workmanship  is  in  the  body 
of  a  man  !  yea,  in  the  body  of  every  beast !  which  makes 
the  anatomical  studies  so  delightful.  What  excellence 
in  every  plant  we  see  !  in  the  beauty  of  flowers  !  in  the 
nature,  diversity,  and  use  of  herbs  !  in  fruits,  in  roots, 
in  minerals,  and  what  not !  but  especially,  if  we  look  to 
the  greater  work :  if  we  consider  the  whole  body  of 
this  earth,  and  its  creatures,  and  inhabitants  ;  the  ocean 
of  waters,  with  its  motions  and  dimensions,  the  varia- 
tion of  the  seasons,  and  of  the  face  of  the  earth  ;  the 
intercourse  of  spring  and  fall,  of  summer  and  winter  : 
what  wonderful  excellence  do  these  contain  !  Why, 
then  think  if  these  things,  which  are  but  servants  to 
sinful  men,  are  yet  so  full  of  mysterious  worth ;  what 
is  that  place  where  God  himself  doth  dwell,  prepared 
for  the  just  who  are  perfected  with  Christ ! 

When  thou  walkest  forth  in  the  evening,  look  upon 
the  stars,  in  what  number  they  bespangle  the  firmament; 
if  in  the  day  time,  look  up  to  the  glorious  sun ;  view 
the  wide  expanded  heavens,  and  say  to  thyself.  What 
glory  is  in  the  least  of  yonder  stars  !  What  a  vast,  what 
a  resplendent  body  hath  yonder  moon,  and  every  planet ! 
What  an  inconceivable  glory  hath  the  sun  !  Why,  all 
this  is  nothing  to  the  glory  of  heaven.  Yonder  sun 
must  there  be  laid  aside  as  useless  ;  for  it  would  not  be 
seen  for  the  brightness  of  God.  I  shall  live  above  all 
yonder  glory  ;  yonder  sun  is  but  darkness  to  the  lustre 
of  my  Father's  house  ;  I  shall  be  as  glorious  as  that 
sun  myself 

So  think  of  the  rest  of  the  creatures.  This  whole 
earth  is  but  my  Father's  footstool ;  this  thunder  is  no- 
thing to  his  dreadful  voice  ;  these  winds  are  nothing  to 
the  breath  of  his  mouth ;  so  much  wnsdom  and  power 
as  appear  in  these  ;  so  much  and  far  more  greatness, 
and  goodness,  and  delight,  shall  I  enjoy  in  the  actual 
fruition  of  God.  Surely,  if  the  rain  which  rains,  and 
the  sun  which  shines,  on  the  just  and  unjust,  be  so  won- 
derful ;  the  sun  then  which  must  shine  on  none  but 
saints  and  angels  must  needs  be  wonderful  and  ravishing 
in  glory. 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  301 

6.  Compare  the  things  which  thou  shalt  enjoy  above, 
with  the  excellence  of  those  admirable  works  of  Provi- 
dence which  God  doth  exercise  in  the  Church  and  in 
the  world.  What  glorious  things  hath  the  Lord  wrought ! 
And  yet  we  shall  see  more  glorious  than  these.  Would 
it  not  be  an  astonishing  sight  to  see  the  sea  stand  as  a 
wall  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left,  and  the  people 
of  Israel  pass  safely  through,  and  Pharaoh  and  his  peo- 
ple swallowed  up  1  If  we  had  seen  the  rock  to  gush 
forth  streams,  or  manna  or  quails  rained  down  from 
heaven,  or  the  earth  open  and  swallow  up  the  M'icked  ; 
would  not  all  these  have  been  wondrous,  glorious  sights? 
But  we  shall  see  far  greater  things  than  these.  And  as 
our  sights  shall  be  more  wonderful,  so  also  they  shall 
be  more  sweet;  there  shall  be  no  blood  or  wrath  inter- 
mingled ;  we  shall  not  then  cry  out  as  David,  "  Who 
shall  stand  before  this  holy  Lord  God  ?"  Would  it  not 
have  been  an  astonishing  sight  to  have  seen  the  sun 
stand  still  in  the  firmament  ?  Why,  we  shall  see  when 
there  shall  be  no  sun  to  shine  at  all ;  we  shall  behold 
for  ever  a  sun  of  more  incomparable  brightness.  Were 
it  not  a  brave  life,  if  we  might  still  live  amon^  wonders 
and  miracles  ;  and  all  for  us,  and  not  against  us  ?  If 
we  could  have  drought  or  rain  at  our  prayers,  as  Elias  ; 
or  if  we  could  call  down  fire  from  heaven  to  destroy 
our  enemies  ;  or  raise  the  dead  to  life,  as  Elisha  ;  or 
cure  the  diseased,  and  speak  strange  languages,  as  the 
apostles  ;  alas!  these  are  nothing  to  the  wonders  which 
we  shall  see  and  possess  with  God,  and  all  those  won- 
ders of  goodness  and  love  !  We  shall  possess  that 
pearl  and  power  itself,  through  whose  virtue  all  these 
works  were  done ;  we  shall  ourselves  be  the  subjects  of 
more  wonderful  mercies  than  any  of  these.  Jonas  was 
raised  but  from  a  three  days'  burial,  from  the  belly  of 
the  whale,  in  the  deep  ocean  ;  but  we  shall  be  raised 
from  many  years'  rottenness  and  dust,  and  that  dust 
exalted  to  a  sunlike  glory,  and  that  glory  perpetuated 
to  all  eternity.  What  sayest  thou?  Is  not  this  the 
greatest  of  miracles  or  wonders  ?  Surely,  if  we  observe 
but  common  providences,  the  motions  of  the  sun,  the 
tides  of  the  sea,  the  standing  of  the  earth,  the  warming 
it,  the  watering  it  with  rain  as  a  garden,  the  keeping  in 


302  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

order  a  wicked  confused  world,  with  multitudes  of  the 
like,  they  are  all  very  admirable  ;  but  then  to  think  of 
the  Sion  of  God,  of  the  vision  of  the  Divine  Majesty,  of 
the  comely  order  of  the  heavenly  host,  what  an  admi- 
rable sight  must  that  needs  be  !  O  what  rare  and 
mighty  works  have  we  seen  !  what  clear  discoveries 
of  an  Almighty  arm  !  what  magnifying  of  weakness  ! 
what  casting  down  of  strength  !  what  wonders  wrought 
by  most  improbable  means !  what  turning  of  tears  and 
fears  into  safety  and  joy  !  such  hearing  of  earnest  pray- 
ers, as  if  God  could  have  denied  us  nothing  !  All  these 
are  wonderful  works  :  but  what  are  these  to  our  full 
deliverance  !  to  our  final  conquest !  to  our  eternal  tri- 
umph !  and  to  that  great  day  of  great  things  ! 

7.  Compare  also  the  mercies  which  thou  shalt  have 
above  with  those  particular  providences  which  thou  hast 
enjoyed  thyself.  If  thou  be  a  Christian  indeed,  thou 
hast,  if  not  in  thy  book,  yet  certainly  in  thy  heart,  many 
favours  upon  record ;  the  very  remembrance  and  re- 
hearsal of  them  is  sweet ;  how  much  more  sweet  was 
the  actual  enjoyment !  But  all  these  are  nothing  to  the 
mercies  which  are  above.  Look  over  the  excellent 
mercies  6f  thy  youth,  the  mercies  of  thy  riper  years, 
the  mercies  of  thy  prosperity  and  of  thy  adversity,  the 
mercies  of  thy  several  places  and  relations  :  are  they 
not  excellent  and  innumerable?  Canst  not  thou  think 
on  the  several  places  thou  hast  lived  in,  and  remember 
that  they  have  each  had  their  several  mercies  ?  The 
mercies  of  such  a  place  and  such  a  place,  and  all  of 
them  very  rich  and  engaging  mercies  ?  O  how  sweet 
was  it  to  thee  when  God  resolved  thy  last  doubts  ! 
when  he  overcame  and  silenced  thy  fears  and  unbelief! 
when  he  prevented  the  inconveniences  of  thy  life,  which 
thy  own  counsel  would  have  cast  thee  into  !  when  he 
eased  thy  pains,  when  he  healed  thy  sickness,  and 
raised  thee  up  as  from  the  very  grave  !  Were  not  all 
these  precious  mercies  ?  Alas  !  these  are  but  small 
things  for  thee  in  the  eyes  of  God ;  he  intendeth  thee 
far  greater  things  than  these,  even  such  as  these  are 
scarce  a  taste  of.  It  was  a  choice  mercy  that  God  hath 
so  notably  answered  thy  prayers,  and  that  thou  hast 
been  so  oft  and  evidently  a  prevailer  with  him  :  but  O, 


303 

think,  are  all  these  so  sweet  and  precious,  that  my  life 
would  have  been  a  perpetual  misery  without  them  ! 
Hath  his  providence  lifted  me  so  high  on  earth,  and  his 
merciful  kindness  made  me  great?  How  sweet  then 
will  the  glory  of  his  presence  be  !  And  how  high  will 
his  eternal  love  exalt  me !  And  how  great  shall  I  be 
made  in  communion  with  his  greatness  !  If  my  pilgrim- 
age and  warfare  have  such  mercies,  what  shall  I  find  in 
my  home,  and  in  my  triumph  ?  If  I  have  had  so  much 
in  this  strange  country,  at  such  a  distance  from  him, 
what  shall  I  have  in  heaven  in  his  immediate  presence  ? 
8.  Compare  the  joy  which  thou  shalt  have  in  heaven 
with  that  which  the  saints  of  God  have  found  in  the 
way  to  it,  and  in  the  foretastes  of  it:  when  thou  seest  a 
heavenly  man  rejoice,  think  what  it  is  that  so  affects 
him.  It  is  the  property  of  fools  to  rejoice  in  toys  ;  but 
the  people  of  God  are  wiser,  they  know  what  it  is  that 
makes  them  glad.  When  did  God  reveal  himself  to 
any  of  his  saints,  but  the  joy  of  their  hearts  was  an- 
swerable to  the  revelation?  When  Moses  had  been 
talking  with  God  in  the  mount,  it  made  his  visage  so 
shining  and  glorious  that  the  people  could  not  endure 
to  behold  it ;  but  he  was  fain  to  put  a  veil  upon  it :  no 
wonder  then  if  the  face  of  God  must  be  veiled  till  we 
come  to  that  state  where  we  shall  be  capable  of  behold- 
ing him,  when  "  the  veil  shall  be  taken  away,  and  we 
all  beholding  him  with  open  face,  shall  be  changed  into 
the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory."  Alas,  what  are 
the  back  parts  which  Moses  saw  from  the  clefts  of  the 
rock,  to  that  open  face  which  we  shall  behold  here- 
after !  What  is  that  revelation  to  John  in  Patmos,  to 
this  revelation  which  we  shall  have  in  heaven !  How 
short  doth  Paul's  vision  come  of  the  saints'  vision  above 
with  God !  How  small  a  part  of  the  glory  which  we 
must  see  was  that  which  so  transported  Peter  in  the 
mount !  I  confess  these  were  all  extraordinary  fore- 
tastes ;  but  little  to  the  full,  beatifical  vision.  When 
David  foresaw  the  resurrection  of  Christ  and  of  him- 
self how  did  it  make  him  break  forth  and  say,  "  There- 
fore my  heart  was  glad,  and  my  glory  rejoiceth,  my 
flesh  also  shall  rest  in  hope."  Think,  then,  if  the  fore- 
sight can  raise  such  ravishing  joy,  what  will  the  actual 


304 

possession  do  !  How  oft  have  we  read  and  heard  of 
the  dying  saints,  who,  when  they  had  scarce  strength 
and  life  to  express  them,  have  been  as  full  of  joy  as 
their  hearts  could  hold !  And  when  their  bodies  have 
been  under  the  extremities  of  their  sickness,  yea,  ready 
to  feel  the  pangs  of  death,  have  yet  had  so  much  of 
heaven  in  their  spirits  that  their  joy  hath  far  surpassed 
their  sorrows  !  And  if  a  spark  of  this  fire  be  so  glori- 
ous, and  that  in  the  midst  of  the  sea  of  adversity,  what 
then  is  that  sun  of  glory  itself? 

9.  Compare  also  the  glory  of  the  heavenly  kingdom 
with  the  glory  of  the  Church  on  earth,  and  of  Christ  in 
his  state  of  humiliation ;  and  you  may  easily  conclude, 
if  Christ,  standing  in  the  room  of  sinners,  was  so  won- 
derful in  excellences,  what  is  Christ  at  the  Father's 
right  hand  !  And  if  the  Church,  under  her  sins  and  ene- 
mies, hath  so  much  beauty,  she  will  have  much  more 
at  the  marriage  of  the  Lamb.  How  wonderful  was  the 
Son  of  God  in  the  form  of  a  servant !  When  he  is  born, 
the  heavens  must  proclaim  him  by  miracles ;  a  new 
star  must  appear  in  the  firmament,  and  fetch  men  from 
remote  parts  of  the  world  to  worship  him  in  a  manger ; 
the  angels  and  heavenly  host  must  declare  his  nativity, 
and  solemnize  it  with  praising  and  glorifying  God  ; 
when  he  sets  upon  his  office,  his  whole  life  is  a  wonder ; 
water  turned  into  wine,  thousands  fed  with  five  loaves 
and  two  fishes,  the  lepers  cleansed,  the  sick  healed,  the 
lame  restored,  the  blind  receive  their  sight,  the  dead 
raised:  if  we  had  seen  all  this  should  we  not  have 
thought  it  wonderful?  The  most  desperate  diseases 
cured  with  a  touch,  with  a  word ;  the  blind  eyes  with  a 
little  clay  and  spittle ;  the  devils  departing  by  legions 
at  command ;  the  winds  and  the  sea  obeying  his  word ; 
are  not  all  these  wonderful  ?  Think  then  how  wonder- 
ful is  his  celestial  glory  !  If  there  be  such  cutting  down 
of  bouglis,  and  spreading  of  garments,  and  crying,  Ho- 
sanna,  to  one  that  comes  into  Jerusalem  riding  on  an 
ass,  what  will  there  be  when  he  comes  with  his  angels 
in  his  glory  ?  If  they  that  hear  him  preach  the  Gospel 
of  the  kingdom  have  their  hearts  turned  within  them, 
that  they  turn  and  say,  "  Never  man  spake  like  this 
man :"  then  sure  they  that  behold  his  majesty  in  his 


THE  saints'  everlasting  REST.  305 

kingdom,  will  say,  "  There  was  never  glory  like  this 
glory,"  If  when  his  enemies  come  to  apprehend  him, 
the  word  of  his  mouth  doth  cast  them  all  to  the  ground; 
if  when  he  is  dying,  the  earth  must  tremble,  the  veil  of 
the  temple  rend,  the  sun  in  the  firmament  hide  its  face, 
and  the  dead  bodies  of  the  saints  arise  :  O  what  a  day- 
will  it  be  when  he  will  once  more  shake,  not  the  earth 
only,  but  the  heavens  also,  and  remove  the  things  that 
are  shaken  !  when  this  sun  shall  be  taken  out  of  the  fir- 
mament, and  be  everlastingly  darkened  with  the  bright- 
ness of  his  glory  !  when  the  dead  must  all  rise  and 
stand  before  him ;  and  "  all  shall  acknowledge  him  to 
be  the  Son  of  God,  and  every  tongue  confess  him  to  be 
Lord  and  King  !"  If  when  he  riseth  again  the  grave 
and  death  have  lost  their  power,  and  the  angels  of  heaven 
must  roll  away  the  stone,  and  astonish  the  watchmen 
till  they  are  as  dead  men,  and  send  the  tidings  to  his 
dejected  disciples  ;  if  the  bolted  doors  cannot  keep  him 
out ;  if  the  sea  be  as  firm  ground  for  him  to  walk  on  ;  if 
he  can  ascend  to  heaven  in  the  sight  of  his  disciples, 
and  send  the  angels  to  forbid  them  gazing  after  him  : 
O  what  power,  and  dominion,  and  glory  then  is  he  now 
possessed  of!  and  must  we  ever  possess  with  him  ! 

Yet  think  farther,  are  his  very  servants  enabled  to  do 
such  miracles  when  he  is  gone  from  them  ?  Can  a  few 
poor  fishermen  and  tent-makers  cure  the  lame,  and 
blind,  and  sick  ?  open  prisons,  destroy  the  disobedient, 
and  raise  the  dead  ?  O  then  what  a  world  will  that  be 
where  every  one  can  do  greater  works  than  these  !  It 
were  much  to  have  the  devils  subject  to  us  ;  but  more 
to  have  our  names  written  in  the  Book  of  Life.  If  the 
very  preaching  of  the  Gospel  be  accompanied  with  such 
power  that  it  will  pierce  the  heart,  and  discover  its  se- 
crets, bring  down  the  proud,  and  make  the  stony  sinner 
tremble  ;  if  it  can  make  men  burn  their  books,  sell  their 
lands,  bring  in  the  price,  and  lay  it  down  at  the  preach- 
er's feet ;  if  it  can  make  the  spirit  of  princes  stoop,  and 
the  kings  of  the  earth  resign  their  crowns,  and  do  their 
homage  to  Jesus  Christ ;  if  it  can  subdue  kingdoms, 
and  convert  thousands,  and  turn  the  world  thus  upside 
down  ;  if  the  very  micntion  of  the  judgment  and  life  to 
come  can  make  the  judge  ou  the  bench  to  tremble, 


306 

what  then  is  the  glory  of  the  kingdom  itself?  What 
an  absolute  dominion  have  Christ  and  his  saints !  And 
if  they  have  this  power  and  honour  in  the  day  of  their 
abasement,  what  will  they  have  in  their  full  advance- 
ment ? 

10.  Compare  the  mercies  thou  shalt  have  above  with 
the  mercies  which  Christ  hath  here  bestowed  on  thy 
souL;  and  the  glorious  change  which  thou  shalt  have  at 
last,  with  the  gracious  change  which  the  Spirit  has 
wrought  on  thy  heart.  Compare  the  comforts  of  thy 
glorification  with  the  comforts  of  thy  sanctification. 
There  is  not  the  smallest  grace  in  thee  which  is  genu- 
ine, but  is  of  greater  worth  than  the  riches  of  the  In- 
dies ;  nor  a  hearty  desire  and  groan  after  Christ,  but  is 
more  to  be  valued  than  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  ;  a 
renewed  nature  is  the  very  image  of  God :  Scripture 
calleth  it,  "  Christ  dwelling  in  us,"  and  "  the  Spirit  of 
God  dwelling  in  us  :"  it  is  a  beam,  from  the  face  of 
God  himself;  it  is  the  seed  of  God  remaining  in  us;  it 
is  the  only  inherent  beauty  of  the  rational  soul ;  it  en- 
nobleth  man  above  all  nobility  ;  it  fitteth  him  to  under- 
stand his  Maker's  pleasure,  to  do  his  will,  and  to  re- 
ceive his  glory  :  think  then  with  thyself,  if  "  this  grain 
of  mustard  seed"  be  so  precious,  what  is  "  the  tree  of 
life  in  the  midst  of  the  paradise  of  God  ?"  If  a  spark 
of  life  be  so  much,  how  glorious  then  is  the  fountain 
and  end  of  this  life  !  If  we  are  even  now  said  "  to  be 
like  God,  and  to  bear  his  image,  and  to  be  holy  as  he  is 
holy;"  sure  we  shall  then  be  much  liker  God  when  we 
are  perfectly  holy,  and  without  blemish.  Is  the  desire 
of  heaven  so  precious  a  thing !  what  then  is  the  thing 
itself?  Is  love  so  excellent !  what  then  is  the  beloved  ? 
Is  our  joy  in  foreseeing  and  believing  so  sweet !  what 
will  be  the  joy  in  the  full  possession  ?  O  the  delight 
that  a  Christian  hath  in  the  lively  exercise  of  some  of 
these  affections  !  What  good  doth  it  to  his  very  heart 
when  he  can  feelingly  say.  He  loves  his  Lord  !  Yea, 
even  those  troubling  passions  of  sorrow  and  fear  are 
yet  delightful,  when  they  are  rightly  exercised  :  how 
glad  is  a  poor  Christian  when  he  feeleth  his  heart  melt, 
and  when  the  thoughts  of  sinful  unkindness  will  dis- 
solve it !     Even  this  sorrow  doth  yield  him  matter  of 


THE  saints'  everlasting  REST.  307 

joy  :  O  what  will  it  then  be,  when  we  shall  do  nothing 
but  know  God,  and  love,  and  rejoice,  and  praise,  and 
all  this  in  the  highest  perfection  !  What  a  comfort  is  it 
to  my  doubting  soul  when  I  have  a  little  assurance  of 
the  sincerity  of  my  graces  !  How  much  more  will  it 
comfort  me,  to  find  that  the  Spirit  hath  safely  conducted 
me,  and  left  me  in  the  arms  of  Jesus  !  What  a  change 
was  it  that  the  Spirit  made  upon  my  soul  when  he  first 
"  turned  me  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the  power 
of  Satan  unto  God  !"  To  be  taken  from  that  horrid 
state  of  nature,  wherein  myself  and  my  actions  were 
loathsome  to  God,  and  the  sentence  of  death  was  passed 
upon  me,  and  the  Almighty  took  me  for  his  utter  ene- 
my; and  to  be  presently  numbered  among  his  saints, 
and  called  his  friend,  his  servant,  his  son,  and  the  sen- 
tence revoked  which  was  gone  forth ;  O  what  a  change 
was  this  ?  To  be  taken  from  that  state  wherin  I  was 
born,  and  had  lived  so  many  years,  and  if  I  had  j»o  died 
I  had  been  damned  for  ever ;  and  to  be  justified  from  all 
these  crimes,  and  freed  from  all  these  plagues,  and  put 
into  the  title  of  an  heir  of  heaven  ;  O  what  an  astonish- 
ing change  was  this  !  How  much  greater  will  that  glo- 
rious change  then  \}e  !  beyond  expressing  !  beyond  con- 
ceiving !  How  oft,  when  I  have  thought  of  this  change 
in  my  regeneration,  have  I  cried  out,  O  blessed  day  ! 
and  blessed  be  the  Lord  that  I  ever  saw  it !  How  then 
shall  I  cry  out  in  heaven,  O  blessed  eternity  !  and  bless- 
ed be  the  Lord  that  brought  me  to  it !  Was  the  mercy 
of  my  conversion  so  exceeding  great  that  the  angels  of 
God  did  rejoice  to  see  it  ?  Sure  then  the  mercy  of  my 
salvation  will  be  so  great  that  the  same  angels  will  con- 
gratulate my  felicity.  This  grace  is  but  a  spark  that  is 
raked  up  in  the  ashes  ;  it  is  covered  with  flesh  from  the 
sight  of  the  world  ;  but  my  everlasting  glory  will  not 
"be  under  a  bushel,  but  upon  a  hill,  even  upon  Sioi», 
the  mount  of  God." 


308  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

HOW    TO    MANAGE    AND    WATCH    OVER   THE    HEART  THROUGH    THE 
WHOLE    WORK. 

The  last  part  of  this  directory  is  to  guide  you  in  ma- 
naging your  hearts  through  this  work,  and  to  show  you 
wherein  you  had  need  to  be  exceeding  watchful.  I 
have  showed  you  before  what  must  be  done  with  your 
hearts  in  your  preparations  to  the  work,  and  in  your 
setting  upon  it :  I  shall  now  show  it  you,  in  respect  of 
the  time  of  the  performance.  Our  chief  work  will  here 
be  to  discover  to  you  the  danger,  and  that  will  direct 
you  to  the  remedy.  Let  me  therefore  acquaint  you  be- 
forehand, that  whenever  you  set  upon  this  heavenly 
employment,  you  shall  find  your  own  hearts  your  great- 
est hinderers,  and  they  will  prove  false  to  you  in  one 
or  all  of  these  four  degrees :  First,  they  will  hold  off, 
that  you  will  hardly  get  them  to  the  work  ;  or  else  they 
will  betray  you  by  their  idleness  in  the  work,  pretend- 
ing to  do  it  when  they  do  it  not ;  or  they  will  interrupt 
the  work,  by  their  frequent  excursions,  and  turning 
aside  to  every  object ;  or  they  will  spoil  the  work  by 
cutting  it  short,  and  be  gone  before  you  have  done  any 
good  at  it.  Therefore  I  forewarn  you,  as  you  value  the 
invaluable  comfort  of  this  work,  faithfully  resist  these 
four  dangerous  evils. 

1.  Thou  shalt  find  thy  heart  as  backward  to  this,  as  to 
any  work  in  the  world.  O  what  excuses  it  will  make  ! 
what  evasions  it  will  find  out !  and  what  delays,  when  it 
is  never  so  much  convinced  !  Either  it  will  question, 
whether  it  be  a  duty  or  not !  or,  if  it  be  so  to  others, 
yet  whether  it  be  so  to  thee  ?  It  will  take  up  any  thing 
like  reason  to  plead  against  it ;  or,  if  thy  heart  have  no- 
thing against  the  work,  then  it  will  trifle  away  the  time 
in  delays,  and  promise  this  day  and  the  next,  but  still 
keep  off;  or  lastly,  if  thou  wilt  not  be  so  baffled  with 
excuses  or  delays,  thy  heart  will  give  thee  a  flat  denial, 
and  oppose  its  own  unwillingness  to  thy  reason  :  thou 
shalt  find  it  draw  back  with  all  the  strength  it  hath.     I 


THE  saints'   everlasting   REST.  309 

speak  all  this  of  the  heart  so  far  as  it  is  carnal ;  for  so 
far  as  it  is  spiritual,  it  will  judge  this  work  the  sweetest 
in  the  world. 

But  take  up  the  authority  which  God  hath  given  thee, 
command  thy  heart ;  if  it  rebel,  use  violence  with  it ;  if 
thou  be  too  weak,  call  in  the  Spirit  of  Christ  to  thine 
assistance  ;  he  is  never  backward  to  so  good  a  work,  nor 
will  deny  his  help  in  so  just  a  cause  :  God  will  be  ready 
to  help  thee,  if  thou  be  not  unwilling  to  help  thyself. 
Say  unto  him,  "  Lord,  thou  gavest  my  reason  the  com- 
mand of  my  thoughts  and  affections  :  the  authority  I 
have  received  over  them  is  from  thee,  and  now  behold 
they  refuse  to  obey  thine  authority  :  thou  commandest 
me  to  set  them  to  the  work  of  heavenly  meditation,,  but 
they  rebel,  and  stubbornly  refuse  the  duty ;  wilt  thou 
not  assist  me  to  execute  that  authority  which  thou  hast 
given  mc  ?  O  send  down  thy  Spirit  and  power  that  I 
may  enforce  thy  commands,  and  effectually  compel  them 
to  obey  thy  will." 

And  thus  doing,  thou  shalt  see  thy  heart  will  submit: 
fts  resistance  will  be  brought  under  ;  and  its  backward- 
ness will  be  turned  to  compliance. 

2.  When  thou  hast  got  thy  heart  to  the  work,  beware 
lest  it  delude  thee  by  a  loitering  formality  ;  lest  it  say, 
I  go,  and  go  not ;  lest  it  trifle  out  the  time,  while  it 
should  be  effectually  meditating.  When  thou  hast  per- 
haps but  an  hour's  time  for  meditation,  the  time  will  be 
spent  before  thy  heart  will  be  serious.  This  doing  of 
duty,  as  if  we  did  it  not,  doth  undo  as  many  as  the  flat 
omission  of  it.  To  rub  out  the  hour  in  a  bare  lazy  think- 
ing of  heaven,  is  but  to  lose  that  hour,  and  delude  thy- 
self. What  is  to  be  done  in  this  case  ?  W^hy,  do  here 
also  as  you  do  by  a  loitering  servant ;  keep  thine  eye 
always  upon  thy  heart ;  look  not  so  much  to  the  time  it 
spendeth  in  the  duty,  as  to  the  work  that  is  done :  you 
can  tell  by  his  work,  Avhether  your  servant  hath  been 
painful :  ask,  what  affections  have  yet  been  acted  ?  How 
much  am  I  yet  got  nearer  heaven?  Verily  many  a 
man's  heart  must  be  followed  as  close  in  this  duty  of 
meditation,  as  an  ox  at  the  plough,  that  will  go  no  longer 
than  you  are  calling  or  scourging;  if  you  cease  driving 
but  a  moment,  the  heart  will  stand  still. 


310  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

I  would  not  have  thee  of  the  judgment  of  those  who 
think  that  while  they  are  so  backward,  it  is  better  let  it 
alone  ;  and  that  if  mere  love  will  not  bring  them  to  the 
duty,  the  service  is  worse  than  the  omission  :  these  men 
understand  not,  First,  that  this  argument  would  certainly 
cashier  all  spiritual  obedience ;  nor  do  they  understand 
well  the  corruptness  of  their  own  natures  ;  nor  that  their 
sinful  undisposedness  will  not  suspend  the  commands 
of  God ;  nor  one  sin  excuse  another ;  especially  they 
little  know  the  way  of  God  to  excite  their  affections ; 
and  that  the  love  which  should  compel  them,  must  itself 
be  first  compelled,  in  the  same  sense  as  it  is  said  to  com- 
pel :  love  I  know  is  a  most  precious  grace,  and  should 
have  the  chief  interest  in  all  our  duties ;  but  there  are 
means  appointed  by  God  to  procure  this  love  ;  and  shall 
I  not  use  those  means,  till  I  can  use  them  from  love  ? 
That  were  to  neglect  the  means  till  I  have  the  end.  Must 
I  not  seek  to  procure  love,  till  I  have  it  already?  There 
are  means  also  for  the  increasing  of  love  where  it  is 
begun,  and  means  for  exciting  it  where  it  lieth  dull : 
and  must  I  not  use  these  means  till  it  is  increased  and 
excited  ?  Fall  upon  the  work  till  thou  art  constrained 
to  love  ;  and  then  love  will  constrain  thee  to  farther 
duty. 

3.  As  thy  heart  will  be  loitering,  so  will  it  be  divert- 
ing. It  will  be  turning  aside,  like  a  careless  servant, 
to  talk  with  every  one  that  passeth  by  :  when  there 
should  be  nothing  in  thy  mind  but  the  work  in  hand,  it 
will  be  thinking  of  thy  calling,  or  of  thy  afflictions,  or  of 
every  bird,  or  tree,  or  place,  thou  seest,  or  of  any  im- 
pertinence, rather  than  of  heaven.  The  cure  here  is 
the  same  with  that  before ;  to  use  watchfulness  and  vio- 
lence with  your  own  imaginations,  and  as  soon  as  they 
step  out,  to  chide  them  in.  Drive  away  these  birds  of 
prey  from  thy  sacrifice,  and  strictly  keep  thy  heart  to 
the  work  thou  art  upon. 

4.  Lastly,  Be  sure  also  to  look  to  thy  heart  in  this, 
that  it  cut  not  off  the  wor]^  before  the  time,  and  run  not 
away  through  weariness,  before  it  have  leave.  "  Thou 
shalt  find  it  exceeding  prone  to  this.  Thou  mayest 
easily  perceive  it  in  other  duties  :  if  in  secret  thou  set 
thyself  to  pray,  is  not  thy  heart  urging  thee  still  to  cut 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  311 

it  short?  Dost  thou  not  frequently  find  a  motion  to 
have  done  ?  Art  thou  not  ready  to  be  up,  as  soon  almost 
as  thou  art  down  on  thy  knees  ?  So  it  will  be  also  in 
thy  contemplations  of  heaven  ;  as  fast  as  thou  gettest 
up  thy  heart,  it  will  be  down  again  ;  it  will  be  weary  of 
the  work ;  it  will  be  minding  thee  of  other  business  to 
be  done,  and  stop  thy  heavenly  walk,  before  thou  art 
well  warm.  What  is  to  be  done  in  this  case  also  ?  Why 
the  same  authority  and  resolution  which  brought  it  to 
the  work,  and  observed  it  in  the  work,  must  hold  it  to 
it,  till  the  work  be  done.  Stick  to  the  work  till  thy 
graces  be  acted,  thy  affections  raised,  and  thy  soul  re- 
freshed with  the  delights  above ;  or  if  thou  canst  not 
obtain  these  ends  at  once,  ply  it  the  closer  the  next 
time,  and  let  it  not  go  till  thou  feel  the  blessing. 
."  Blessed  is  that  servant  whom  his  Lord,  when  he  comes, 
shall  find  so  doing." 

Thus  I  have  directed  you. in  this  work  of  heavenly 
contemplation,  and  led  you  into  the  path  where  you 
may  walk  with  God.  But  because  I  would  bring  it 
down  to  the  capacity  of  the  meanest,  and  help  their 
memories  who  are  apt  to  let  slip  the  former  particulars, 
I  shall  here  contract  the  whole,  and  lay  it  before  you  in 
a  narrower  compass.  But  still  I  wish  thee  to  remem- 
ber it  is  the  practice  of  a  duty  that  I  am  directing  thee 
in,  and  therefore  if  thou  wilt  not  practise  it,  do  not 
read  it. 

The  sum  is  this,  as  thou  makest  conscience  of  pray- 
ing daily,  so  do  thou  of  meditation  ;  and  more  especially 
on  the  joys  of  heaven.  To  this  end,  set  apart  one  hour, 
or  half  hour,  every  day,  wherein  thou  mayest  lay  aside 
all  worldly  thoughts,  and  with  all  possible  seriousness 
and  reverence,  as  if  thou  wert  to  speak  with  God  him- 
self, or  to  have  a  sight  of  Christ,  or  of  that  blessed  place : 
so  withdraw  thyself  into  some  secret  place,  and  set  thy- 
self wholly  to  the  following  work  :  if  thou  canst,  take 
Isaac's  time  and  place,  who  "  went  forth  into  the  field 
in  the  evening  to  meditate  :"  but  if  thou  be  a  servant, 
or  poor  man,  that  cannot  have  that  leisure,  take  the 
fittest  time  and  place  that  thou  canst,  though  it  be  when 
thou  art  private  about  thy  labours. 

When  thou  settest  to  the  work,  look  up  toward  hea- 


312  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

ven,  let  thine  eye  lead  thee  as  near  as  it  can  ;  remember 
that  there  is  thine  everlasting  rest ;  study  its  excellence, 
study  its  reality,  till  thy  unbelief  be  silenced,  and  thy 
faith  prevail :  if  thy  judgment  be  not  yet  drawn  to  ad- 
miration, use  those  sensible  helps  and  advantages  which 
were  even  now  laid  down.  Compare  thy  heavenly  joys 
with  the  choicest  on  earth,  and  so  rise  up  from  sense 
to  faith  ;  if  this  mere  consideration  prevail  not,  then 
plead  the  case  with  thy  heart :  preach  upon  this  text  of 
heaven  to  thyself;  convince,  inform,  confute,  instruct, 
reprove,  examine,  admonish,  encourage,  and  comfort 
thy  own  soul  from  this  celestial  doctrine  ;  draw  forth 
those  several  considerations  of  thy  rest  on  which  thy 
several  affections  may  work,  especially  that  affection  or 
grace  which  thou  intendest  to  act.  If  it  be  love  which 
thou  wouldst  act,  show  it  the  loveliness  of  heaven,  and- 
how  suitable  it  is  to  thy  condition  ;  if  it  be  desire,  con- 
sider thy  absence  from  this  lovely  object ;  if  it  be  hope, 
consider  the  possibility  and  probability  of  obtaining  it ; 
if  it  be  courage,  consider  the  singular  assistance  and  en- 
couragements which  thou  mayest  receive  from  God,  the 
weakness  of  the  enemy,  and  the  necessity  of  prevailing; 
if  it  be  joy,  consider  its  excellent,  ravishing  glory,  thy 
interest  in  it,  and  its  certainty,  and  the  nearness  of  the 
time  when  thou  mayest  possess  it.  Urge  these  consi- 
derations home  to  thy  heart ;  whet  them  with  all  possi- 
ble seriousness  upon  each  affection  :  if  thy  heart  draw 
back,  force  it  to  the  work ;  if  it  loiter,  spur  it  on  ;  if  it 
step  aside,  command  it  in  again  ;  if  it  should  slip  away, 
and  leave  the  work,  use  thine  authority  :  keep  it  close 
to  the  business,  till  thou  hast  obtained  thine  end  ;  stir 
not  away,  if  it  may  be,  till  thy  love  flame,  till  thy  joy  be 
raised,  or  till  thy  desire  or  other  graces  be  lively.  Call 
in  assistance  also  from  God,  mix  ejaculations  with  thy 
soliloquies  ;  till  having  seriously  pleaded  the  case  with 
thy  heart,  and  reverently  pleaded  the  case  with  God, 
thou  hast  pleaded  thyself  from  a  clod  to  a  flame,  from  a 
forgetful  sinner  to  a  mindful  lover  :  from  a  lover  of  the 
world,  to  a  thirster  after  God  :  from  a  fearful  coward, 
to  a  resolved  Christian.  In  a  word,  what  will  not  be 
done  one  day,  do  it  the  next,  till  thou  hast  pleaded 
thy  heart  from  earth  to  heaven  :  from  conversing  below, 


THE   SAINTS*   EVERLASTING   REST.  313 

to  a  walking  with  God  ;  and  till  thou  canst  lay  thy  heart 
to  rest,  as  in  the  bosom  of  Christ,  in  this  meditation  of 
thy  full  and  everlasting  rest. 


CHAPTER  X. 

AN  EXAMPLE   OF  THIS  HEAVENLY  CONTEMPLATION,  FOR  THE  HELP 
OF  THE  UNSKILFUL. 

Rest  !  How  sweet  a  word  is  this  to  mine  ears  !  Me- 
thinks  the  sound  doth  turn  to  substance,  and  having  en- 
tered at  the  ear,  descended  down  to  my  very  heart ;  me- 
thinks  I  feel  it  stir  and  work,  and  that  through  all  my 
parts  and  powers,  but  with  with  a  various  work  upon 
my  various  parts.  To  my  wearied  senses  and  languid 
spirits,  it  seems  a  quieting,  powerful  opiate  ;  to  my 
dulled  powers,  it  is  spirit  and  life ;  to  my  dark  eyes,  it 
is  both  eye  salve  and  a  prospective  ;  to  my  taste,  it  is 
sweetness  ;  to  mine  ears,  it  is  melody ;  to  my  hands  and 
feet,  it  is  strength  and  nimbleness :  methinks  I  feel  it 
digest  as  it  proceeds,  and  increase  my  native  heat  and 
moisture,  and  lying  as  a  reviving  cordial  at  my  heart, 
from  thence  doth  send  forth  lively  spirits,  which  beat 
through  all  the  pulses  of  my  soul.  Rest!  not  as  the 
stone  that  rests  on  the  earth,  nor  as  these  clods  of  flesh 
shall  rest  in  the  grave  ;  so  our  beasts  must  rest  as  well 
as  we ;  nor  is  it  the  satisfying  of  our  fleshly  lusts,  nor 
such  a  rest  as  the  carnal  world  desireth :  no,  no  ;  we 
have  another  kind  of  rest  than  these  :  rest  we  shall  from 
our  labours,  which  were  but  the  way  and  means  to  rest : 
but  yet  that  is  the  smallest  part :  O  blessed  rest,  where 
we  shall  never  rest  day  nor  night,  crying,  *'  Holy,  holy, 
holy.  Lord  God  of  Sabaoth !"  where  we  shall  rest  from 
sin,  but  not  from  worship !  from  suffering  and  sorrow, 
but  not  from  solace  !  O  blessed  day,  when  I  shall  rest 
with  God !  when  I  shall  rest  in  the  arms  and  bosom  of 
my  Lord  !  when  I  shall  rest  in  knowing,  loving,  rejoic- 
ing, and  praising !  when  my  perfect  soul  and  body 
together  shall,  in  these  perfect  actings,  perfectly  enjoy 
the  most  perfect  God  !  when  God  also,  who  is  love 
itself,  shall  perfectly  love  me  !  and  rejoice  over  me  with 


314  TflE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

joy  and  singing,  as  I  shall  rejoice  in  him  !     How  near  is 
that  most  blessed  joyful  day  !  it  comes  apace  ;  even  "  he 
that  comes  will  come,  and  will  not  tarry:"  though  my 
Lord  seem  to  delay  his  coming,  yet  a  little  while  and  he 
will  be  here  :  what  are  a  few  hundred  years  when  they 
are  over  ?     How  surely  will  his  sign  appear !  and  how 
suddenly  will  he  seize  upon  the  careless  world !     Even 
as  the  lightning  that  shines  from  east  to  west  in  a  mo- 
ment.    He  who   is   gone   hence,  will  even  so  return. 
Methinks  I  hear  the  voice  of  his  foregoers !     Methinks 
I  see  him  in  the  clouds,  with  the  attendance  of  his  an- 
gels in  majesty  and   glory !     O  poor    secure    sinners, 
what  will  you  now  do?  where  will  you  hide  yourselves, 
or  what  shall  cover  you  ?     Mountains  are    gone,    the 
earth  and  heavens  that  were,  are  passed  away  ;  the  de- 
vouring fire  hath  consumed  all  except  yourselves,  who 
must  be  the  fuel  for  ever :  O  that  you  could  consume  as 
soon  as  the  earth,  and  melt  away  as  did  the  heavens  ! 
Ah,  these  wishes  are  now  but  vain  ;  the  Lamb  himself 
would  have  been  your  friend,  he  would  have  loved  you, 
and  ruled  you,  and  now  have  saved  you:  but  you  would 
not  then,  and  now  it  is  too  late :  never  cry.  Lord,  Lord  : 
too  late,   too  late,  man.     Why  doot  thou  look  about  ? 
can  any  save  thee  ?     Whither  dost  thou  run  ?  can  any 
hide  thee  ?     O  wretch,  that  hast  brought  thyself  to  this ! 
Now  blessed  are  ye  that  have  believed  and  obeyed ;  this 
is  the  end  of  your  faith  and  patience  ;  this  is   that  for 
which  ye  prayed  and  waited  ;  do  you  now  repent  your 
sufferings   and   sorrows?    your   self-denying   and   holy 
walking  ?  are  your  tears  of  repentance  now  bitter  or 
sweet  ?     O  see  how  the  Judge  doth  smile  upon  you ! 
there  is  love  in  his  looks  ;  the  titles  of  Redeemer,  Hus- 
band, Head,  are  written  in  his  amiable  face.     Hark ! 
doth  he  not  call  you  ?  he  bids  you  stand  here  on  his 
right  hand  :  fear  not,  for  there  he  sets  his  sheep  :  O  joy- 
ful  sentence   pronounced   by  his  mouth!     "Come,  ye 
blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared  for 
you  from  the  foundations  of  the  world  !"     See  how  your 
Saviour  takes  you  by  the  hand  :  the  door  is  open :  the 
kingdom  is  his,  and  therefore  yours  :  there  is  your  place 
before   his   throne  ;  the   Father  receiveth  you  as  the 
spouse  of  his  Son ;  he  bids  you  welcome  to  the  crown 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  316 

of  glory  :  never  so  unvi^orthy,  crowned  you  must  be : 
this  was  the  project  of  free  redeeming  grace,  the  pur- 
pose of  eternal  love.  O  blessed  grace  !  O  blessed  love  ! 
O  the  frame  that  my  soul  shall  then  be  in  !  But  I  can- 
not express  it,  I  cannot  conceive  it ! 

This  is  that  joy  which  was  procured  by  sorrow  ;  this 
is  that  crown  which  was  procured  by  the  cross  ;  my 
Lord  did  weep,  that  now  my  tears  might  be  wiped  away ; 
he  did  bleed,  that  I  might  now  rejoice  ;  he  was  for- 
saken, that  I  might  not  now  be  forsaken  ;  he  did  then 
die,  that  I  might  now  live.  This  weeping,  wounded 
Lord,  shall  I  behold ;  this  bleeding  Saviour  shall  I  see, 
and  live  in  him  that  died  for  me.  O  free  mercy  that 
can  exalt  so  vile  a  wretch  !  free  to  me,  though  dear  to 
Christ !  here  must  I  live  with  all  these  saints  !  O  com- 
fortable meeting  of  my  old  acquaintance,  with  whom  I 
prayed,  and  wept,  and  suffered ;  with  whom  I  spake  of 
this  day  and  place  !  I  see  the  grave  could  not  contain 
you,  the  sea  and  earth  must  give  up  their  dead  ;  the 
same  love  hath  redeemed  and  saved  you  also  :  this  is 
not  like  our  cottages  of  clay,  our  prisons,  our  earthly 
dwellings  :  this  voice  of  joy  is  not  like  our  old  com- 
plainings, our  groans,  our  sighs,  our  impatient  moans ; 
nor  this  melodious  praise  like  our  scorns  and  revilings, 
nor  like  the  oaths  and  curses  which  we  heard  on  earth : 
this  body  is  not  like  the  body  we  had,  nor  this  soul 
like  the  soul  we  had,  nor  this  life  like  the  life  that 
then  we  lived ;  we  have  changed  our  place,  we  have 
changed  our  state,  our  clothes,  our  thoughts,  our  looks, 
our  language  ;  we  have  changed  our  company  for  the 
greater  part,  and  the  rest  of  our  company  is  changed 
itself;  before,  we  were  weak  and  despised,  but  now  how 
glorious  !  Where  are  now  our  different  judgments,  our 
divided  spirits  ?  Now  we  are  all  of  one  judgment,  of 
one  name,  of  one  heart,  of  one  house,  and  of  one  glory. 
O  sweet  reconcilement !  O  happy  union  !  which  makes 
us  first  to  be  one  with  Christ,  and  then  one  with  our- 
selves !  Now  our  differences  shall  be  dashed  in  our  teeth 
no  more,  nor  the  Gospel  reproached  through  our  folly, 
O  my  soul,  thou  shalt  no  more  lament  the  sufferings  of 
the  saints  ;  never  more  condole  the  Church's  riiins ; 
never  bewail  thy  suffering  friends,  nor  lie  wailing  over 


316  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

their  deathbeds,  or  their  graves  :  thou  shalt  never  suffer 
thy  old  temptations  from  Satan,  the  world,  or  thy  own 
flesh ;  thy  body  will  no  more  be  such  a  burden  to  thee  ; 
thy  pains  and  sicknesses  are  all  now  cured ;  thou  shalt 
be  troubled  with  weakness  and  weariness  no  more  ;  thy 
head  is  not  now  an  aching  head,  nor  thy  heart  now  an 
aching  heart ;  thy  hunger  and  thirst,  and  cold  and  sleep, 
thy  labour  and  study  are  all  gone.  O  what  a  mighty 
change  is  this  :  from  the  dunghill  to  the  throne  ;  from  a 
body  as  vile  as  the  carrion  in  the  ditch,  to  a  body  as 
bright  as  the  sun  in  the  firmament !  from  all  my  doubts 
and  fears,  to  this  possession  which  hath  put  me  out  of 
doubt !  from  all  my  fearful  thought  of  death,  to  this 
most  blessed  joyful  life  !  O  what  a  change  is  this  ! 
farewell  sin  and  suffering  for  ever  ;  now  welcome  most 
holy,  heavenly  nature  ;  which,  as  it  must  be  employed 
in  beholding  the  face  of  God,  so  is  it  full  of  God  alone  ; 
delighted  in  nothing  but  him.  O  who  can  question  the 
love  which  he  doth  so  sweetly  taste  ?  or  doubt  of  that 
which  with  such  joy  he  feeleth  ?  Farewell,  repentance, 
confession,  and  supplication ;  farewell,  hope  and  faith  ; 
and  welcome,  love,  and  joy,  and  praise.  I  shall  now 
have  my  harvest  without  ploughing  or  sowing ;  my  wine 
without  the  labour  of  the  vintage  ;  my  joy  without  a 
preacher  or  a  promise  ;  even  all  from  the  face  of  God 
himself.  Whatever  mixture  is  in  the  streams,  there  is 
nothing  but  pure  joy  in  the  fountain.  Here  shall  I  be 
encircled  with  eternity,  and  come  forth  no  more  :  here 
shall  I  live,  and  ever  live,  and  praise  my  Lord,  and  ever, 
ever  praise  him.  My  face  will  not  wrinkle,  nor  my 
hair  be  grey  ;  but  '*  this  mortal  hath  put  on  immortality, 
and  this  corruptible  incorruption,  and  death  is  swallowed 
up  in  victory  :  O  death  !  where  is  thy  sting  ?  O  grave  ! 
where  is  thy  victory?"  The  date  of  my  lease  will 
no  more  expire,  nor  shall  I  lose  my  joys  through  fear 
of  losing  them.  When  millions  of  ages  are  past,  my 
glory  is  but  beginning ;  and  when  millions  more  are 
past,  it  is  no  nearer  ending.  Every  day  is  all  noontide, 
and  every  month  is  May  or  harvest,  and  every  year  is 
there  a  jubilee,  and  every  age  is  full  manhood  :  and 
all  this  but  one  eternity.  O  blessed  eternity  !  the  glory 
of  my  glory  !  the  perfection  of  my  perfection  ! 


EVERLASTING    REST.  317 

Ah  drowsy,  earthly,  blockish  heart,  how  coolly  dost 
thou  think  of  this  reviving  day !  Dost  thou  sleep  when 
thou  thinkest  of  eternal  rest  ?  Art  thou  hanging  earth- 
ward, when  heaven  is  before  thee  ?  Hadst  thou  rather 
set  thee  down  in  dung,  than  walk  in  the  court  of  the  pre- 
sence of  God  ?  Dost  thou  now  remember  thy  worldly 
business  ?  Art  thou  thinking  of  thy  delights  ?  Wretched 
heart !  is  it  better  to  be  here,  than  above  with  God  ?  is 
the  company  better  ?  are  the  pleasures  greater  ?  Come 
away,  make  no  excuse,  make  no  delay  ;  God  commands, 
and  I  command  thee,  come  away ;  gird  up  thy  loins  ; 
ascend  the  mount,  and  look  about  thee  with  seriousness 
and  with  faith.  Look  thou  not  back  upon  the  way  of 
the  wilderness,  except  it  be  when  thine  eyes  are  dazzled 
with  the  glory,  or  when  thou  wouldst  compare  the  king- 
dom with  that  howling  desert,  that  thou  mayest  more 
sensibly  perceive  the  mighty  difference.  Fix  thine  eye 
upon  the  sun  itself,  and  look  not  down  to  earth  as  long 
as  thou  art  able  to  behold  it ;  except  it  be  to  discern 
more  easily  the  brightness  of  the  one  by  the  darkness 
of  the  other.  Yonder  is  thy  Father's  glory:  yonder 
must  thou  dwell  when  thou  leavest  this  earth:  yonder 
must  thou  remove,  O  my  soul,  when  thou  departest  from 
this  body  :  and  when  the  power  of  thy  Lord  hath  raised 
it  again,  and  joined  thee  to  it,  yonder  must  thou  live 
with  God  for  ever.  There  is  the  glorious  "  New  Jeru- 
salem, the  gates  of  pearl,  the  foundations  of  pearl,  the 
streets  and  pavements  of  transparent  gold."  Seest  thou 
that  sun  which  lighteth  all  the  world  ?  Why,  it  must 
be  taken  down  as  useless  there,  or  the  glory  of  heaven 
will  darken  it,  and  put  it  out ;  even  thyself  shall  be  as 
bright  as  yonder  shining  sun  ;  "  God  will  be  the  sun, 
and  Christ  the  light,  and  in  his  light  shalt  thou  have 
light." 

O  wretched  heart !  hath  God  made  thee  a  promise  of 
rest,  and  wilt  thou  come  short  of  it,  and  shut  out  thyself 
through  unbelief?  Thine  eyes  may  fail  thee,  thy  ears 
deceive  thee,  and  all  thy  senses  prove  delusions,  sooner 
than  a  promise  of  God  can  delude  thee.  Thou  mayest 
be  surer  of  that  which  is  written  in  the  word,  than  if 
thou  see  it  with  thy  eyes,  or  feel  it  with  thy  hands.  Art 
thou  sure  thou  livest?  or  sure  that  this  is  the  earth 


318  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

which  thou  standest  on  ?  Art  thou  sure  thine  eyes  see 
the  sun  ?  As  sure  is  all  this  glory  to  the  saints ;  as  sure 
shall  I  be  higher  than  yonder  stars,  and  live  for  ever  in 
the  holy  city,  and  joyfully  sound  forth  the  praise  of  my 
Redeemer,  if  I  be  not  shut  out  by  the  "  evil  heart  of 
unbelief,  causing  me  to  depart  from  the  living  God." 

And  is  this  rest  so  sweet  and  so  sure  ?  O  then  what 
means  the  careless  world?  Do  they  know  what  it  is 
they  so  neglect  ?  Did  they  ever  hear  of  it  ?  or  are  they 
yet  asleep  ?  Do  they  know  for  certain  that  the  crown 
is  before  them,  while  they  thus  sit  still,  or  follow  trifles, 
when  they  are  hasting  so  fast  to  another  world,  and 
.  their  eternal  happiness  lies  at  stake  ?  Were  there  left 
one  spark  of  reason  they  would  never  sell  their  rest  for 
toil,  their  glory  for  wordly  vanities.  Ah,  poor  men ! 
that  you  would  once  consider  what  you  hazard,  and 
then  you  would  scorn  these  tempting  baits.  O  blessed 
for  ever  be  that  love  that  hath  rescued  me  from  this 
mad,  bewitching  darkness  ! 

Draw  nearer  yet,  O  my  soul ;  bring  forth  thy  strong- 
est love ;  here  is  matter  for  it  to  work  upon :  O  see 
what  beauty  presents  itself !  Is  it  not  exceeding  lovely  ? 
Is  not  all  the  beauty  in  the  world  contracted  here  ?  Is 
not  all  other  beauty  deformity  to  it  ?  Dost  thou  need  to 
he  persuaded  now  to  love  ?  Here  is  a  feast  for  thine 
eyes  :  a  feast  for  all  the  powers  of  thy  soul.  Dost  thou 
need  to  be  entreated  to  feed  upon  it  ?  Canst  thou  love 
a  little  shining  earth  ?  Canst  thou  love  a  walking  piece 
of  clay  ?  And  canst  thou  not  love  that  God,  that  Christ, 
that  glory,  which  is  so  truly  and  unmeasurably  lovely  ? 
Thou  canst  love  thy  friend  because  he  loves  thee :  and 
is  the  love  of  friends  like  the  love  of  Christ?  Their 
weeping  or  bleeding  for  thee  doth  not  ease  thee,  nor 
stay  the  course  of  thy  tears  or  blood  :  but  the  tears  and 
tlood  that  fell  from  thy  Lord  have  all  a  sovereign,  heal- 
ing virtue,  and  are  waters  of  life,  and  balsam  to  thy 
fainting  sores.  O  my  soul !  if  love  deserve,  and  should 
procure  love,  what  incomprehensible  love  is  here  be- 
fore thee !  Pour  out  all  the  store  of  thy  affections 
here  :  and  all  is  too  little.  O  that  it  were  more  !  Let 
him  be  first  served  that  served  thee  first :  let  him  have 
the  strength  of  thy  love,  who  parted  with  strength  and 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  319 

life  in  love  to  thee :  if  thou  hast  any  to  spare  when  he 
hath  his  part  let  it  be  imparted  then  to  standers-by. 
See  what  a  sea  of  love  is  here  before  thee  :  cast  thy- 
self into  this  ocean  of  his  love  :  fear  not,  though  it 
seems  a  furnace  of  fire,  and  the  hottest  that  was  ever 
kindled  upon  earth,  yet  it  is  the  fire  of  love  and  not  of 
wrath  ;  a  fire  most  effectual  to  extinguish  fire  ;  never 
intended  to  consume,  but  to  glorify  thee  ;  venture  into 
it  then  in  thy  believing  meditations,  and  walk  in  these 
flames  with  the  Son  of  God :  when  thou  art  once  in 
thou  wilt  be  sorry  to  come  forth  again.  O  my  soul ! 
what  wantest  thou  here  to  provoke  thy  love  ?  Dost 
thou  love  for  excellence  1  Why  thou  seest  nothing  be- 
low but  baseness,  except  as  they  relate  to  thy  enjoy- 
ments above.  Yonder  is  the  Goshen,  the  region  of 
light:  this  is  a  land  of  palpable  darkness.  Yonder 
stars,  that  shining  moon,  the  radiant  sun,  are  all  but  as 
the  lanterns  hanged  out  at  thy  Father's  house,  to  light 
thee  while  thou  walkest  in  the  dark  streets  of  the 
earth :  but  little  dost  thou  know  the  glory  that  is  with- 
in !  Dost  thou  love  for  suitableness  ?  Why,  what  per- 
son more  suitable  than  Christ  ?  his  godhead,  his  man- 
hood, his  fulness, 'his  freeness,  his  willingness,  his  con- 
stancy, do  all  proclaim  him  thy  most  suitable  friend. 
What  state  more  suitable  to  thy  misery  than  that  of 
mercy  ?  Or  to  thy  sinfulness  and  baseness  than  that  of 
honour  and  perfection  ?  What  place  more  suitable  to 
thee  than  heaven  ?  Thou  hast  had  a  sufficient  trial  of 
this  world :  dost  thou  find  it  agree  with  thy  nature  or 
desires  ?  Are  these  common  abominations,  these  heavy 
suff*erings,  these  unsatisfying  vanities,  suitable  to  thee  ? 
Or  dost  thou  love  for  interest  and  near  relation  ?  Where 
hast  thou  better  interest  than  in  heaven  ?  or  where  hast 
thou  nearer  relation  than  there  ?  Dost  thou  love  for 
acquaintance  and  familiarity  ?  Why,  though  thine  eyes 
have  never  seen  the  Lord  yet  he  is  never  the  farther 
from  thee.  If  thy  son  were  blind  yet  he  would  love 
thee  his  father,  though  he  never  saw  thee.  Thou  hast 
heard  the  voice  of  Christ  to  thy  very  heart ;  thou  hast 
received  his  benefits  ;  thou  hast  lived  in  his  bosom  ; 
and  art  thou  not  yet  acquainted  with  him  ?  It  is  he  that 
brought  thee  seasonably  and  safely  into  the  world  ;  it 


330  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

is  he  that  nursed  thee  in  thy  tender  infancy,  and  helped 
thee  when  thou  couldst  not  help  thyself;  he  taught  thee 
to  go,  to  speak,  to  read,  to  understand  ;  he  taught  thee 
to  know  thyself  and  him ;  he  opened  thee  that  first 
window  whereby  thou  sawest  into  heaven  ;  hast  thou 
forgotten  since  thy  heart  was  careless,  and  he  did 
quicken  it,  and  make  it  yield  ?  When  it  was  at  peace, 
and  he  did  trouble  it?  And  broken,  till  he  did  heal 
it  again?  Hast  thou  forgotten  the  time,  nay,  the  many 
times,  when  he  found  thee  in  secret,  all  in  tears ;  when 
he  heard  thy  sighs  and  groans,  and  left  all  to  come  and 
comfort  thee  ?  When  he  came  in  upon  thee,  and  took 
thee  up,  as  it  were,  in  his  arms,  and  asked  thee.  Poor 
soul,  what  aileth  thee  ?  Dost  thou  weep,  when  I  have 
wept  so  much  ?  Be  of  good  cheer,  thy  wounds  are 
saving  and  not  deadly.  It  is  I  that  have  made  them, 
who  mean  thee  no  hurt ;  though  I  let  out  thy  blood,  I 
will  not  let  out  thy  life. 

Methinks  I  remember  yet  his  voice,  and  feel  those 
arms  that  took  me  up.  How  gently  did  he  handle  me  ! 
How  carefully  did  he  dress  my  wounds,  and  bind  them 
up  !  Methinks  I  hear  him  still  saying,  Though  thou 
hast  dealt  unkindly  with  me,  yet  will  not  I  do  so  by 
thee  ;  though  thou  hast  set  light  by  me,  and  all  my 
mercies,  yet  both  I  and  all  are  thine.  What  wouldst 
thou  have  that  I  cannot  give  thee  ?  and  what  dost  thou 
want  that  I  cannot  give  thee  ?  If  any  thing  in  heaven 
and  earth  will  make  thee  happy  it  is  all  thine  own. 
Wouldst  thou  have  pardon  ?  thou  shalt  have  it.  I  free- 
ly forgive  thee  all  the  debt.  Wouldst  thou  have  grace 
and  peace  ?  thou  shalt  have  them  both.  Wouldst  thou 
have  myself?  behold  I  am  thine,  thy  friend,  thy  Lord, 
thy  husband,  and  thy  head.  Wouldst  thou  have  the 
Father  ?  I  will  bring  thee  to  him  ;  and  thou  shalt  have 
him  in  and  by  me.  These  were  my  Lord's  reviving 
words ;  these  were  the  melting,  healing,  quickening 
passages  of  love.  After  all  this,  when  I  was  doubtful 
of  his  love,  methinks  I  yet  remember  his  convincing 
arguments :  Have  I  done  so  much  to  testify  my  love, 
and  yet  dost  thou  doubt  ?  Have  I  made  thy  believing 
it  the  condition  of  enjoying  it,  and  yet  dost  thou  doubt  ? 
Have  I  offered  thee  myself  so  long,  and  yet  dost  thou 


THE   SAINTS     EVERLASTING  REST.  321 

question  my  willingness  to  be  thine?  What  could  I 
have  done  more  than  I  have  done  ?  At  what  dearer  rate 
should  I  tell  thee  that  I  love  thee  ?  Read  the  story  of 
my  bitter  passion ;  wilt  thou  not  believe  that  it  pro- 
ceeded from  love  ?  Did  I  ever  give  thee  cause  to  be  so 
jealous  of  me?  or  to  think  so  hardly  of  me  as  thou 
dost?  Have  I  made  myself  in  the  Gospel  a  lion  to 
thine  enemies,  and  a  lamb  to  thee ;  and  dost  thou  so 
overlook  my  lamblike  nature  ?  Have  I  set  mine  arms 
and  heart  there  open  to  thee,  and  wilt  thou  not  believe 
but  they  are  shut  ?  If  I  had  been  willing  to  let  thee 
perish,  I  could  have  done  it  at  a  cheaper  rate :  what 
need  I  follow  thee  with  so  long  patience  and  entreat- 
ing ?  What,  dost  thou  tell  me  of  thy  wants  ?  have  I  not 
enough  for  me  and  thee  ?  and  why  dost  thou  tell  me  of 
thy  unworthiness,  and  thy  sin  ?  I  had  not  died  if  man 
nad  not  sinned  :  if  thou  wert  not  a  sinner,  thou  wert 
not  for  me  ;  if  thou  wert  worthy  thyself,  what  shouldst 
thou  do  with  my  worthiness  ?  Did  I  ever  invite  the 
worthy  and  righteous?  or  did  I  ever  save  or  justify 
such  ?  or  is  there  any  such  on  earth  ?  Hast  thou  no- 
thing ?  art  thou  lost  and  miserable  ?  art  thou  helpless  and 
forlorn  ?  dost  thou  believe  that  I  am  a  sufficient  Sa- 
viour ?  and  wouldst  thou  have  me  ?  why  then  take  me. 
Lo,  I  am  thine  ;  if  thou  be  willing,  I  am  willing,  and 
neither  sin  nor  devils  shall  break  the  match. 

These,  O  these  were  the  blessed  words  which  his 
Spirit  from  his  Gospel  spoke  unto  me,  till  he  made  me 
cast  myself  at  his  feet,  yea,  into  his  arms,  and  cry  out, 
"  My  Saviour  and  my  Lord,  thou  hast  broke  my  heart, 
thou  hast  revived  my  heart,  thou  hast  overcome,  thou 
hast  won  my  heart ;  take  it,  it  is  thine  !  if  such  a  heart 
can  please  thee,  take  it:  if  it  cannot,  make  it  as  thou 
wouldst  have  it." 

Thus,  O  my  soul,  mayest  thou  remember  the  sweet 
familiarity  thou  hast  had  with  Christ ;  therefore  if^  ac- 
quaintance will  cause  affection,  O  then  knit  thy  heart 
unto  him  ;  it  is  he  that  hath  stood  by  thy  bed  of  sick- 
ness, that  hath  cooled  thy  heats,  and  eased  thy  pains, 
and  refreshed  thy  weariness,  and  removed  thy  fears  ; 
he  hath  been  always  ready  when  thou  hast  earnestly- 
sought  him  ;  he  hath  given  thee  the  meeting  in  public 
14* 


322  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

and  in  private ;  he  hath  been  found  of  thee  in  the  con- 
gregation, in  thy  house,  in  thy  chamber,  in  the  field,  in 
the  way  as  thou  wast  walking,  in  thy  waking  nights,  in 
thy  deepest  dangers.  If  bounty  and  compassion  be  an 
attractive  of  love,  how  unmeasurably  then  am  I  bound 
to  love  him  !  All  the  mercies  that  have  filled  up  my 
life  tell  me  this  !  all  the  places  that  ever  I  did  abide  in, 
every  condition  of  life  that  I  have  passed  through,  all 
my  employments,  and  all  my  relations,  every  change 
that  hath  befallen  me.  all  tell  me  that  the  fountain  is 
overflowing  goodness. 

Lord,  what  a  sum  of  love  am  I  indebted  to  thee,  and 
how  doth  my  debt  continually  increase  !  How  should 
I  love  again  for  so  much  love  !  But  what !  shall  I  dare 
to  think  of  making  thee  requital,  or  of  recompensing  all 
thy  love  with  mine  ?  Will  my  mite  requite  thee  for 
golden  mines  ?  or  mine,  which  is  nothing,  or  not  mine, 
for  thine,  which  is  infinite  and  thine  own  ?  Shall  I  dare 
to  contend  in  love  with  thee  ?  or  set  my  borrowed  spark 
against  the  sun  of  love  ?  Can  I  love  as  high,  as  deep, 
as  broad,  as  long,  as  love  itself;  as  much  as  he  that 
made  me,  and  that  made  me  live,  that  gave  me  all  that 
little  which  I  have  ?  Both  the  heart,  the  fire,  the  fuel, 
and  all  were  his  :  as  I  cannot  match  thee  in  the  works 
of  thy  power,  nor  make,  nor  preserve,  nor  guide  the 
world  ;  so  why  should  I  think  any  more  of  matching 
thee  in  love  ?  No,  Lord,  I  yield,  I  am  overcome  ;  O 
blessed  conquest !  go  on  victoriously,  and  still  prevail, 
and  triumph  in  thy  love ;  the  captive  of  love  shall  pro- 
claim thy  victory  when  thou  leadest  me  in  triumph 
from  earth  to  heaven,  from  death  to  life,  from  the  tri- 
bunal to  the  throne ;  myself  and  all  that  see  it  shall  ac- 
knowledge that  thou  hast  prevailed,  and  all  shall  say, 
"  Behold  how  he  loved  him  !"  Yet  let  me  love  thee,  in 
subjection  to  thy  love  as  thy  redeemed  captive,  though 
I  cannot  reach  thy  m.easure. 

O  my  soul,  begin  it  here  ;  be  sick  of  love  now,  that 
thou  mayest  be  well  with  love  there:  "Keep  thy- 
self now  in  the  love  of  God,"  and  let  neither  life,  nor 
death,  nor  any  thing  separate  thee  from  it,  and  thou 
shalt  be  kept  in  the  fulness  of  love  for  ever  ;  for  the 
Lord  hath  prepared  a  city  of  love,  a  place  for  the  com- 


THE   saints'   everlasting   REST.  323 

municating  of  love  to  his  chosen,  and  those  that  love 
his  name  shall  dwell  there. 

Away  then,  O  my  drowsy  soul,  from  this  world's  un- 
comfortable darkness !  The  night  of  thy  ignorance 
and  misery  is  past,  the  day  of  glorious  light  is  at  hand ; 
this  is  the  daybreak  betwixt  them  both  :  though  thou 
see  not  yet  the  sun  itself  appear,  methinks  the  twilight 
of  promise  should  revive  thee  !  Come  forth,  then,  and 
leave  these  earthly  cells,  and  hear  thy  Lord  that  bids 
thee  rejoice,  and  again  rejoice !  Thou  hast  lain  here 
long  enough  in  thy  j)rison  of  flesh,  where  Satan  hath 
been  thy  jailer ;  where  cares  have  been  thy  irons,  and 
fears  thy  scourge,  and  the  bread  and  water  of  aflliction 
thy  food  ;  where  sorrows  have  been  thy  lodging,  and  a 
carnal,  hard,  unbelieving  heart,  the  iron  gates  and  bars 
that  have  kept  thee  in,  that  thou  couldst  scarce  have 
leave  to  look  through  the  lattices,  and  see  one  glimpse 
of  the  immortal  light :  the  angel  of  the  covenant  now 
calls  thee,  and  strikes  thee,  and  bids  thee  arise  and  fol- 
low him :  up,  O  my  soul,  and  cheerfully  obey,  and  thy 
bolts  and  bars  shall  all  fly  open  ;  do  thou  obey,  and  all 
will  obey  ;  follow  the  Lamb  which  way  soever  he  leads 
thee  :  art  thou  afraid,  because  thou  knowest  not  whi- 
ther ?  Can  the  place  be  worse  than  where  thou  art  ? 
Shouldst  thou  fear  to  follow  such  a  guide  ?  Can  the 
sun  lead  thee  to  a  state  of  darkness  ?  Or  can  he  mis- 
lead thee  that  "  is  the  light  that  lighteth  every  man  that 
Cometh  into  the  world?"  Will  he  lead  thee  to  death, 
who  died  to  save  thee  from  it?  Or  can  he  do  thee  any 
hurt,  who  for  thy  sake  did  suffer  so  much?  Follow 
him,  and  he  wdll  show  thee  the  paradise  of  God,  he  will 
give  thee  a  sight  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  he  will  give 
thee  a  taste  of  the  tree  of  life  :  thy  winter  is  past,  and 
wilt  thou  house  thyself  still  in  earthly  thoughts ;  and 
confine  thyself  to  drooping  and  dulness  ? 

Come  forth,  O  my  drooping  soul,  and  lay  aside  thy 
winter,  mourning  robes ;  let  it  be  seen  in  thy  believing 
joys  and  praise  that  the  day  is  appearing,  and  the  spring 
is  come  ;  and  as  now  thou  seest  thy  comforts  green,- 
thou  shalt  shortly  see  them  Avhite  and  ripe  for  harvest ; 
and  then  thou,  who  art  now  called  forth  to  see  and 
taste,  shalt  be  called  forth  to  reap,  and  gather,  and  take 


324  THE    SAINTS*    EVERLASTING   REST. 

possession.  Shall  I  suspend  and  delay  my  joys  till 
then?  Should  not  the  joys  of  the  spring  go  before  the 
joys  of  harvest?  Is  the  heir  in  no  better  a  state  than 
the  slave  ?  My  Lord  hath  taught  me  to  rejoice  in  the 
hope  of  his  glory,  and  to  see  it  through  the  bars  of  a 
prison  ;  and  even  when  I  am  "  persecuted  for  righteous- 
ness' sake,"  when  I  am  '*  reviled,  and  all  manner  of 
evil  said  against  me  for  his  sake,"  then  he  hath  com- 
manded me  "  to  rejoice  and  be  exceeding  glad,  because 
of  this  my  great  reward  in  heaven."  How  justly  is  an 
unbelieving  heart  possessed  by  sorrow,  and  made  a 
prey  to  cares  and  fears,  when  itself  doth  create  them, 
and  thrust  away  its  offered  peace  and  joy  !  I  know  it 
is  the  pleasure  of  my  bounteous  Lord  that  none  of  his 
family  should  want  comfort,  nor  live  such  a  poor  and 
miserable  life,  nor  look  with  such  a  famished,  dejected 
face.  I  know  he  would  have  my  joys  exceed  my  sor- 
rows ;  and  as  much  as  he  delights  in  the  humble  and 
contrite,  yet  doth  he  more  delight  in  the  soul  as  it  de- 
lighteth  in  him.  Hath  my  Lord  spread  me  a  table  in 
this  wilderness,  and  furnished  it  with  promises  of  ever- 
lasting glory,  and  set  before  me  angels'  food,  and 
broached  for  me  the  side  of  his  beloved  Son,  that  1 
might  have  a  better  wine  than  the  blood  of  the  grape  f 
Doth  he  so  importunately  invite  me  to  sit  down,  and 
draw  forth  my  faith,  and  feed,  and  spare  not?  Nay, 
hath  he  furnished  me  to  that  end  with  reason,  and  faith, 
and  a  rejoicing  disposition  ?  And  yet  is  it  possible  that 
he  should  be  unwilling  I  should  rejoice  ?  Never  think 
it,  O  my  unbelieving  soul :  nor  dare  charge  him  with 
thy  uncomfortable  heaviness,  who  offereth  thee  the 
foretastes  of  the  highest  delight  that  heaven  can  afford, 
and  God  can  bestow.  Doth  he  not  bid  thee  "  delight 
thyself  in  the  Lord?"  and  promise  to  give  thee  "  the 
desires  of  thy  heart  ?"  Hath  he  not  charged  thee  "  to 
rejoice  evermore  ?"  Yea,  "  to  sing  aloud,  and  shout 
for  joy  ?" 

Away,  you  cares  and  fears  !  away,  you  importunate 
sorrows  !  stay  here  below,  while  I  go  up  and  see  my 
rest.  The  way  is  strange  to  me,  but  not  to  Christ. 
There  was  the  eternal  dwelling  of  his  glorious  Deity ; 
and  thither  hath  he  also  brought  his  glorified  flesh.     It 


325 

was  his  work  to  purchase  it ;  it  is  his  work  to  prepare 
it,  and  to  prepare  me  for  it,  and  to  bring  me  to  it.  The 
eternal  God  of  truth  hath  given  me  his  promise,  his 
seal,  and  his  oath  to  assure  me,  that  "  believing  in 
Christ  I  shall  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life :" 
thither  shall  my  soul  be  speedily  removed,  and  my 
body  shortly  follow.  And  can  my  tongue  say  that  I 
shall  shortly  and  surely  live  with  God,  and  yet  my 
heart  not  leap  within  me  ?  Can  I  say  it  believingly, 
and  not  rejoicingly?  Ah  faith  !  how  do  I  perceive  thy 
weakness  !  Ah  unbelief!  if  I  had  never  known  it  before, 
how  sensibly  do  I  now  perceive  thy  malicious  tyranny! 
But  were  it  not  for  thee  what  abundance  might  I  have  ! 
The  light  of  heaven  would  shine  into  my  heart,  and  I 
might  be  as  familiar  there  as  I  am  on  earth. 

Come  away,  my  soul,  then  ;  stand  not  looking  on  that 
grave,  nor  turning  those  bones,  nor  reading  thy  lesson 
vin  the  dust :  those  lines  will  soon  be  wiped  out :  but 
lift  up  thy  head  and  look  to  heaven,  and  read  thy  in- 
structions in  those  fixed  stars  :  or  yet  look  higher  than 
those  eyes  can  see,  into  that  foundation  which  standeth 
sure,  and  see  thy  name  written  in  the  Book  of  Life. 
What  if  an  angel  should  come  from  heaven  and  tell 
thee  that  there  is  a  mansion  prepared  for  thee  ;  that 
it  shall  certainly  be  thine  own,  and  thou  shalt  possess  it 
for  ever ;  would  not  such  a  message  make  thee  glad  ? 
And  dost  thou  make  light  of  the  infallible  word  of  pro- 
mises which  were  delivered  by  the  Spirit,  and  by  the 
Lord  himself? 

What  delight  have  I  found  in  my  private  studies, 
especially  when  they  have  prospered  to  the  increase  of 
knowledge  !  Methinks  I  could  bid  the  world  farewell, 
and  immure  myself  among  my  books,  and  look  forth  no 
more,  (were  it  a  lawful  course,)  but  shut  the  door  upon 
me,  and  among  those  Divine  souls  employ  myself  in 
sweet  content,  and  pity  the  rich  and  great  ones  that 
know  not  happiness.  Sure  then  it  is  a  high  delight  in- 
deed which  in  the  lap  of  eternity  is  enjoyed  ! 

If  the  queen  of  Sheba  came  from  Ethiopia  to  hear  the 
wisdom  of  Solomon,  and  see  his  glory ;  O  how  gladly 
should  I  pass  from  earth  to  heaven,  to  see  the  glory  of 
that  eternal  majesty ;  and  to  attain  myself  that  height 


326  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

of  wisdom,  in  comparison  of  which  the  most  learned  on 
earth  are  but  fools  and  idiots  !  If  the  heaven  of  glass 
which  the  Persian  emperor  framed  were  so  glorious  a 
piece,  and  the  heaven  of  silver  which  the  Emperor 
Ferdinand  sent  to  the  great  Turk,  because  of  their  rare 
artificial  representations  and  motions,  what  will  the 
heaven  of  heavens  be,  which  is  not  formed  by  the  art 
of  man,  or  beautified  like  these  childish  toys,  but  it  is 
the  matchless  palace  of  the  great  King,  built  by  himself 
for  the  residence  of  his  glory,  and  the  perpetual  enter- 
tainment of  his  beloved  saints  !  • 

I  cannot  here  enjoy  my  parents,  or  my  beloved 
friends,  without  some  delight ;  what  will  it  then  be  to 
live  in  the  perpetual  love  of  God  !  For  brethren  here 
to  live  together  in  unity,  how  good  and  pleasant  a  thing 
is  it !  to  see  a  family  live  in  love  :  husbands,  wives,  pa- 
rents, children,  servants,  doing  all  in  love  to  one  ano- 
ther !  O  then,  what  a  blessed  society  will  be  the  family 
of  heaven,  and  those  peaceable  inhabitants  of  the  New 
Jerusalem !  where  is  no  division,  no  disaffection,  nor 
strangeness,  nor  deceitful  friendship ;  never  an  angry 
thought  or  look  ;  never  an  unkind  expression  ;  but  all 
one  in  Christ,  who  is  one  with  the  Father,  and  live  in 
the  love  of  Love  himself. 

Awake,  then,  O  my  drowsy  soul,  and  look  above  this 
world  of  sorrow  !  Hast  thou  borne  the  yoke  of  afflic- 
tions from  thy  youth,  and  so  long  felt  the  smarting  rod, 
and  yet  canst  no  better  understand  its  meaning?  Is  not 
every  stroke  to  drive  thee  hence  ?  and  is  not  the  voice 
like  that  to  Elijah,  "  What  dost  thou  here  ?  up,  and 
away."  Dost  thou  forget  that  sure  prediction  of  the 
Lord,  "  In  the  world  ye  shall  have  trouble,  but  in  me 
ye  shall  have  peace?"  The  first  thou  hast  found  true 
by  long  experience ;  and  of  the  latter  thou  hast  had  a 
small  foretaste  ;  but  the  perfect  peace  is  yet  before, 
w^hich,  till  it  be  enjoyed,  cannot  be  clearly  understood. 

Ah,  my  Lord,  I  feel  thy  meaning ;  it  is  written  in  my 
flesh  ;  it  is  engraven  in  my  bones  :  my  heart  thou  aim- 
est  at :  thy  rod  doth  drive,  thy  silken  cord  of  love  doth 
draw  ;  and  all  to  bring  it  to  thyself:  can  such  a  heart 
be  worth  thy  having  ?  Make  it  so,  Lord,  and  then  it  is 
thine  :  take  it  to  thyself,  and  then  take  me.     I  can  but 


EVERLASTING  REST.  327 

reacli  it  toward  thee,  and  not  unto  thee :  I  am  too  low, 
and  it  is  too  dull :  this  clod  hath  life  to  stir,  but  not  to 
rise :  as  the  feeble  child  to  the  tender  mother,  it  look- 
ethup  to  thee,  and  stretcheth  out  the  hands,  and  fain 
would  have  thee  take  it  up.  Indeed,  Lord,  my  soul  is 
in  a  strait,  and  what  to  choose  I  know  not,  but  thou 
knowest  what  to  give  ;  to  depart  and  be  with  thee  is 
best ;  but  yet  to  be  in  the  flesh  seems  needful.  Thou 
knowest  I  am  not  weary  of  thy  work  ;  I  am  willing  to 
stay  while  thou  wilt  here  employ  me,  and  to  despatch 
the  work  which  thou  hast  put  in  my  hands  ;  but  I  be- 
seech thee  stay  no  longer  when  this  is  done  ;  and  while 
I  must  be  here  let  me  be  still  amending  and  ascending  ; 
make  me  still  better,  and  take  me  at  the  best.  I  dare 
not  be  so  impatient  of  living  as  to  importune  thee  to  cut 
off  my  time,  and  urge  thee  to  snatch  me  hence  :  nor  yet 
would  I  stay  when  my  work  is  done  ;  and  remain  under 
thy  feet  while  they  are  in  thy  bosom :  I  am  thy  child  as 
well  as  they ;  Christ  is  my  head  as  well  as  theirs  ;  why 
is  there  then  so  great  a  distance  1  I  acknowledge  the 
equity  of  thy  ways :  though  we  are  all  children,  yet  I 
am  the  prodigal,  and  therefore  meeter  in  this  remote 
country  to  feed  on  husks,  while  they  are  always  with 
thee  and  possess  thy  glory ;  but  they  were  once  in  my 
condition,  and  I  shall  shortly  be  in  theirs  :  they  were  of 
the  lowest  form  before  they  came  to  the  highest ;  they 
suffered  before  they  reigned  ;  they  came  out  of  great 
tribulation,  who  now  are  standing  before  thy  throne; 
and  shall  not  I  be  content  to  come  to  the  crown  as  they 
did  ?  and  to  drink  of  their  cup  before  I  sit  with  them  in 
the  kingdom  ?  I  am  contented,  O  my  Lord,  to  stay  thy 
time,  and  get  thy  way,  so  thou  wilt  exalt  me  also  in  thy 
season,  and  take  me  into  thy  barn  when  thou  seest  me 
ripe.  In  the  meantime  I  may  desire,  though  I  am  not  to 
repine  ;  I  may  believe  and  wish,  though  not  make  sinful 
haste  ;  I  am  content  to  wait,  but  not  to  lose  thee :  and 
when  thou  seest  me  too  contented  with  thine  absence, 
quicken  then  my  dull  desires,  and  blow  up  the  dying 
spark  of  love :  and  leave  me  not  till  I  am  able  unfeign- 
edly  to  cry  out,  "  As  the  hart  panteth  after  the  brooks, 
and  the  dryland  thirsteth  for  water  streams,  so  thirsteth 
my  soul  after  thee,  O  God :  when  shall  I  come  and  ap- 


338  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

pear  before  the  living  God  ?"  What  interest  hath  this 
empty  world  in  me  !  and  what  is  there  in  it  that  may 
seem  so  lovely  as'to  entice  my  desires  and  delight  from 
thee,  or  to  make  me  loath  to  come  away  ?  Draw  forth 
my  soul  to  thyself  by  the  secret  power  of  thy  love,  as 
the  sunshine  in  the  spring  draws  forth  the  creatures 
from  their  winter  cells  ;  meet  it  half  way,  and  entice  it 
to  thee,  as  the  loadstone  doth  the  iron  :  dispel  the  clouds 
that  hide  from  me  thy  love,  or  remove  the  scales  that 
hinder  mine  eyes  from  beholding  thee :  for  only  the 
beams  that  stream  from  thy  face,  and  the  taste  of  thy 
salvation,  can  make  a  soul  unfeignedly  say,  "  Lord, 
now  let  thy  servant  depart  in  peace." 

Send  forth  thy  convoy  of  angels  for  my  departing 
soul,  and  let  them  bring  it  among  the  perfect  spirits  of 
the  just,  and  let  me  follow  my  dear  friends  that  have 
died  in  Christ  before ;  and  when  my  friends  are  crying 
over  my  grave,  let  my  spirit  be  reposed  with  thee  in 
rest ;  and  when  my  corpse  shall  lie  there  rotting  in  the 
dark,  let  my  soul  be  in  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in 
light.  And  O  thou  that  numberest  the  hairs  of  my 
head,  number  all  the  days  that  my  body  lies  in  the  dust ; 
thou  that  writest  all  my  numbers  in  thy  book,  keep  an 
account  of  all  my  scattered  bones ;  and  hasten,  O  my 
Saviour,  the  time  of  my  return  ;  send  forth  thine  angels, 
and  let  that  dreadful,  joyful  trum.pet  sound ;  delay  not, 
lest  the  living  give  up  their  hopes  ;  delay  not,  lest  earth 
should  grow  like  hell,  and  lest  thy  Church,  by  divisions, 
be  crumbled  to  dust ;  delay  not,  lest  thine  enemies  get 
advantage  of  thy  flock,  and  lest  pride,  and  hypocrisy, 
and  sensuality,  and  unbelief  should  prevail  against  thy 
little  remnant,  and  share  among  them  thy  whole  inhe- 
ritance, and  when  thou  comest  thou  find  not  faith  on  the 
earth  ;  delay  not,  lest  the  grave  should  boast  of  victory, 
and  refuse  to  deliver  up  thy  due.  O  hasten  that  great 
resurrection  day !  when  thy  command  shall  go  forth, 
and  none  shall  disobey ;  when  the  sea  and  earth  shall 
yield  up  their  hostages,  and  all  that  sleep  in  the  grave 
shall  awake,  and  the  dead  in  Christ  shall  first  arise  ; 
when  the  seed  that  thou  sowedst  corruptible  shall  come 
forth  incorruptible  ;  and  graves  that  received  but  rot- 
tenness, and  retained  but  dust,  shall  return  thee  glorious 


THE   saints'   everlasting  REST.  329 

stars  and  suns  :  therefore  dare  I  lay  down  my  carcass 
in  the  dust,  intrusting  it  not  to  a  grave,  but  to  thee ; 
and  therefore  my  flesh  shall  rest  in  hope,  till  thou  raise 
it  to  the  everlasting  rest.  Return,  O  Lord,  how  long! 
O  let  thy  kingdom  come !  thy  desolate  bride  saith, 
Come ;  for  thy  Spirit  within  her  saith.  Come,  who 
teacheth  her  thus  to  pray,  with  groanings  which  cannot 
be  expressed:  the  whole  creation  saith.  Come,  waiting 
to  be  delivered  from  the  bondage  of  corruption  into  the 
glorious  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God :  thyself  hath  said, 
"  Surely  I  come  :  Amen  ;  even  so,  come,  Lord  Jesus." 


THE  CONCLUSION. 

Thus,  reader,  I  have  given  thee  my  best  advice  for 
the  attaining  and  maintaining  a  heavenly  conversation. 
The  manner  is  imperfect,  and  too  much  my  own  :  but 
for  the  main  matter,  T  received  it  from  God.  From  him 
I  deliver  it  thee,  and  his  charge  I  lay  upon  thee,  that 
thou  entertain  and  practise  it.  If  thou  canst  not  do  it 
fully,  do  it  as  thou  canst ;  only  be  sure  thou  do  it  seri- 
ously and  frequently.  If  thou  wilt  believe  a  man  that 
hath  made  some  small  trial  of  it,  thou  shalt  find  it  will 
make  thee  another  man,  and  elevate  thy  soul,  and  clear 
thy  understanding,  and  leave  a  pleasant  savour  upon  thy 
heart ;  so  that  thy  own  experience  will  make  thee  con- 
fess, that  one  hour  thus  spent  will  more  effectually  re- 
vive thee  than  many  in  bare  external  duties  ;  and  a  day 
in  these  contemplations  will  afford  thee  truer  content 
than  all  the  glory  and  riches  of  the  earth.  Be  acquainted 
with  this  work,  and  thou  wilt  be  acquainted  with  God  ; 
thy  joys  will  be  spiritual  and  lasting ;  thou  wilt  have 
comfort  in  life,  and  comfort  in  death  ;  when  thou  hast 
neither  wealth,  nor  health,  nor  the  pleasures  of  this 
world,  yet  wilt  thou  have  comfort ;  comfort  without  the 
presence  or  help  of  any  friend,  without  a  minister,  with- 
out a  book  ;  when  all  means  are  denied  thee,  or  taken 
from  thee,  yet  mayest  thou  have  vigorous,  real  comfort. 
Thy  graces  will  be  active  and  victorious ;  and  the  daily 
joy  which   is   thus   fetched   from   heaven,  will  be  thy 


330  THE  saints'  everlasting  rest. 

strength :  thou  wilt  be  as  one  that  standeth  on  tne  top 
of  an  exceeding  high  mountain  ;  he  looks  down  on  the 
world  as  if  it  were  quite  below  him :  how  small  do  the 
fields,  and  woods,  and  countries  seem  to  him  ?  cities 
and  towns  seem  but  little  spots.  Thus  despicably  wilt 
thou  look  on  all  things  here  below  :  the  greatest  princes 
will  seem  but  as  grasshoppers,  and  the  busy,  conten- 
tious, covetous  world  but  as  heaps  of  ants.  Men's 
threatenings  will  be  no  terror  to  thee ;  nor  the  honours 
of  this  world  any  strong  enticement ;  temptations  will 
be  harmless,  as  having  lost  their  strength  ;  and  afflic- 
tions less  grievous,  as  having  lost  their  sting  ;  and  every 
mercy  will  be  better  known  and  relished. 

Reader,  it  is  (under  God)  in  thy  own  choice  now, 
whether  thou  wilt  live  this  blessed  life  or  not ;  and 
whether  all  these  pains  which  I  have  taken  for  thee, 
shall  prosper  or  be  lost.  If  it  be  lost  through  thy  lazi- 
ness (which  God  forbid)  thou  wilt  prove  the  greater  loser 
thyself. 

O  man,  what  hast  thou  to  mind,  but  God  and  heaven? 
art  thou  not  almost  out  of  this  world  already  ?  dost  thou 
not  look  every  day,  when  one  disease  or  other  will  let 
out  thy  soul  ?  doth  not  the  bier  stand  ready  to  carry 
thee  to  the  grave  ?  and  the  worms  wait  to  feed  upon  thy 
face  and  heart  ?  what  if  thy  pulse  must  beat  a  few 
strokes  more  ?  and  what  if  thou  hast  a  few  more  breaths 
to  fetch,  before  thou  breathe  thy  last  ?  and  what  if  thou 
hast  a  few  more  nights  to  sleep,  before  thou  sleep  in  the 
dust  ?  Alas,  what  will  this  be  when  it  is  gone  ?  and  is 
it  not  almost  gone  already?  Shortly  thou  wilt  see  thy 
glass  run  out,  and  say  thyself.  My  life  is  done  !  my  time 
is  gone  !  there  is  nothing  now  but  heaven  or  hell : 
where  then  should  thy  heart  be  now,  but  in  heaven? 
Didst  thou  but  know  what  a  dreadful  thing  it  is  to  have 
a  doubt  of  heaven  when  a  man  lies  dying,  it  would  rouse 
thee  up. 

O  what  a  life  might  men  live,  if  they  were  but  willing 
and  diligent !  God  would  have  our  joys  to  be  far  more 
than  our  sorrows  ;  yea,  he  would  have  us  to  have  no 
sorrow  but  what  tendeth  to  joy ;  and  no  more  than  our 
sins  have  made  necessary  for  our  good.  How  much  do 
those  Christians  wrong  God  and  themselves,  that  either 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST.  331 

make  their  thoughts  of  God  the  inlet  of  their  sorrows, 
or  let  these  offered  joys  lie  by,  as  neglected  or  forgot- 
ten!  Some  there  be  that  say,  It  is  not  worth  so  much 
time  and  trouble  to  think  of  the  greatness  of  the  joys 
above.  But  as  these  men  obey  not  the  command  of 
God,  which  requireth  them  to  have  their  affections  on 
things  above  ;  so  do  they  wilfully  make  their  own  lives 
miserable,  by  refusing  the  delights  that  God  hath  set 
before  them.  And  yet  if  this  were  all,  it  were  a  smaller 
matter ;  if  it  were  but  loss  of  their  comforts,  I  would 
not  say  much ;  but  see  what  abundance  of  other  mis 
chiefs  follow  the  absence  of  these  heavenly  delights. 

First,  It  will  damp,  if  not  destroy,  our  very  love  to 
God  ;  so  deeply  as  we  apprehend  his  exceeding  love  to 
us,  and  his  purpose  to  make  us  eternally  happy,  so  much 
will  it  raise  our  love :  love  to  God,  and  delight  in  him, 
are  still  conjunct.  They  that  conceive  of  God  as  one 
that  desireth  their  blood  and  damnation,  cannot  heartily 
love  him. 

Secondly,  It  will  make  us  have  rare  and  unpleasing 
thoughts  of  God  ;  for  our  thoughts  will  follow  our  love 
and  delight.  Did  we  more  delight  in  God  than  in  any 
thing  below,  our  thoughts  would  as  freely  run  after  him 
as  they  now  run  from  him. 

Thirdly,  And  it  will  make  men  have  as  rare  and  un- 
pleasing speech  of  God ;  for  who  will  care  for  talking 
of  that  which  he  hath  no  delight  in  ?  What  makes  men 
still  talking  of  wordliness,  or  wickedness,  but  that  these 
are  more  pleasant  to  them  than  God  ? 

Fourthly,  Men  will  have  no  delight  in  the  service  of 
God  when  they  have  no  delight  in  God,  nor  any  sweet 
thoughts  of  heaven,  which  is  the  end  of  their  services. 
No  wonder  if  such  Christians  complain  that  they  are 
still  backward  to  duty  ;  that  they  have  no  delight  in 
prayer,  in  sacraments,  or  in  Scripture  itself:  if  thou 
couldst  once  delight  in  God,  thou  wouldst  easily  delight 
in  duty ;  especially  that  which  bringeth  thee  into  the 
nearest  converse  with  him  ;  but  till  then,  no  wonder  if 
thou  be  weary  of  all. 

Fifthly,  This  want  of  heavenly  delight  will  leave  men 
under  the  power  of  every  affliction  ;  they  will  have  no- 
thing to  comfort  them  and  ease  them  in  their  sufferings, 


THE    saints'    everlasting    REST. 

but  the  empty,  ineffectual  pleasures  of  the  flesh ;  and 
when  that  is  gone,  where  then  is  their  delight  ? 

Sixthly,  It  will  make  them  fearful  and  unwilling  to 
die :  for  who  would  go  to  a  God,  or  a  place,  that  he  hath 
no  delight  in  ?  Or  who  would  leave  his  pleasure  here, 
except  it  were  to  go  to  better  ?  But  if  men  take  delight 
in  God  while  they  live,  they  will  not  tremble  at  the 
tidings  of  death. 

If  God  would  persuade  you  now  to  make  conscience 
of  this  duty,  and  help  you  in  it  by  the  blessed  influence 
of  his  Spirit,  5^ou  would  not  change  your  lives  with  the 
greatest  prince  on  earth.  But  I  am  afraid,  if  I  may 
judge  of  your  hearts  by  the  backwardness  of  my  own, 
that  it  will  prove  a  hard  thing  to  persuade  you  to  the 
work.  Pardon  my  jealousy  ;  it  is  raised  upon  too  many 
and  sad  experiments.  What  say  you  ?  Do  you  resolve 
on  this  heavenly  course  or  not  ?  Will  you  let  go  all 
your  sinful  pleasures,  and  daily  seek  these  higher  de- 
lights ?  I  pray  thee,  reader,  consider  of  it,  and  resolve 
on  the  work  before  thou  goest  farther.  Let  thy  family 
perceive,  let  thy  neighbours  perceive,  let  thy  conscience 
perceive,  yea,  let  God  perceive  it,  that  thou  art  a  man 
that  hast  thy  conversation  in  heaven.  God  hath  now 
offered  to  be  thy  daily  delight ;  thy  neglect  is  thy  re- 
fusal. Take  heed  what  thou  dost :  refuse  this,  and  re- 
fuse all :  thou  must  have  heavenly  delights,  or  none  that 
are  lasting.  God  is  willing  thou  shouldst  daily  walk 
with  him,  and  fetch  in  consolation  from  the  everlasting 
fountain  :  if  thou  be  unwilling,  bear  the  loss ;  and  when 
thou  liest  dying,  then  seek  for  comfort  where  thou  canst. 
O  how  is  the  unseen  God  neglected,  and  the  unseen  glory 
forgotten  !  and  all  for  want  of  that  *'  faith  which  is  the 
substance  of  things  hoped  for,  and  the  evidence  of  things 
that  are  not  seen." 

But  for  you,  whose  hearts  God  hath  weaned  from  all 
things  here  below,  I  hope  you  will  fetch  one  walk  daily 
in  the  New  Jerusalem  !  God  is  your  love,  and  your 
desire ;  and  I  know  you  would  fain  be  more  acquainted 
with  your  Saviour,  and  I  know  it  is  your  grief  that 
your  hearts  are  not  more  near  him ;  and  that  they  do 
not  more  passionately  love  and  delight  in  him.     As 


THE  saints'  everlasting  REST.  333 

ever  you  would  enjoy  your  desires  try  this  life  of  medi- 
tation on  your  everlasting  rest. 

O  thou,  the  merciful  Father  of  spirits,  the  attractive 
of  love,  and  ocean  of  delights,  draw  up  these  drossy 
hearts  unto  thyself,  and  keep  them  there  till  they  are 
spiritualized  and  refined,  and  second  these  thy  servant's 
weak  endeavours,  and  persuade  those  that  read  these 
lines  to  the  practice  of  this  delightful,  heavenly  work. 
O  suffer  not  the  soul  of  thy  most  unworthy  servant  to 
be  a  stranger  to  those  joys  which  he  unfoldeth  to  thy 
people,  or  to  be  seldom  in  that  way  which  he  hath 
marked  out  to  others  ;  but  O  keep  me,  while  I  tarry  on 
this  earth,  in  daily,  serious  breathings  after  thee,  and 
in  a  believing,  affectionate  walking  with  thee ;  and  when 
thou  comest,  O  let  me  be  found  so  doing,  not  hiding  my 
talent,  nor  serving  my  flesh,  nor  yet  asleep,  with  my 
lamp  unfurnished,  but  waiting  and  longing  for  my  Lord's 
return ;  that  those  who  shall  read  these  directions  may 
not  reap  only  the  fruit  of  my  studies,  but  the  breathings 
of  my  active  hope  and  love  ;  that  if  my  heart  were  open 
to  their  view  they  might  there  read  the  same  most 
deeply  engraven  with  a  beam  from  the  face  of  the  Son 
of  God ;  and  not  find  vanity,  or  lust,  or  pride  within, 
where  the  words  of  life  appear  without;  that  so  these 
lines  may  not  witness  against  me  :  but,  proceeding  from 
the  heart  of  the  writer,  may  be  effectual,  through  thy 
grace,  upon  the  heart  of  the  reader,  and  so  be  the 
savour  of  life  to  both. 

Glory  be  to  God  in  the  highest  i:  on  earth  peace, 
good  will  toward  men. 


THE    END. 


/•; 


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Date  Due 


